Semi hi-res M42 core

[Dennis]

Hello,

It took me some 2 hours to collect this data through gaps between sets of clouds in Brisbane last night, and in that period, all I managed to acquire was 5 seconds Lum and 10 seconds each of R, G & B; 35 seconds of data for 2 hours effort!:(

Rather than let it go to waste, I decided to process the data and I was surprised how well it held up. The six brighter stars of the Trapezium, A to E, have been nicely resolved.

Tak Mewlon 180 F12 at prime focus (2160mm fl) with an ST2000XM and CFW9.

Thanks for looking!

Dennis

[h0ughy]

tuti fruity colours Dennis - very sharp - how do you get 6 spikes? the trap look good

[Mighty_oz]

Pretty amazing stuff hey, guess it all adds up. Like the colours too.

[ballaratdragons]

Great work Dennis!

E & F are plainly visible :thumbsup:
On your original image can you see G & H?

I used to love imaging the trap :)

[John Hothersall]

Thats a great close in shot of the trap area with strong green emmission and lovely reds.

John.

[Paul Haese]

Looks well defined and nice colours too. I like the trap stars.

[Lester]

Very nice close-up view Dennis. Thanks.

[DavidU]

A fine image Dennis, great colour & detail.

[irwjager]

That's pretty cool for such little data. Kudos for sticking with it and giving processing bash nonetheless - I love the result! There's something very eerie about the trapezium in this pic. Like it's staring at you... :P



I reckon the Tak in question has got 3 spider vanes?

[Dennis]

Hi Dave

Thanks for your comments, I like garish colours and the Mewlon has 3 spider vanes, hence the 6 spoke diffraction patterns. On bright stars, the 3 vanes act much like a Bahtinov Mask – quite a nice design feature from Mr Takahashi!

Hope you guys get some relief from the unrelenting heat soon!



Thanks Mighty_oz – I like the colours too!



Thanks John – It’s been several months (poor weather) since I last managed to set up and I appreciate your comments.



Thanks Paul – I appreciate your comments.



Thanks Lester – it’s always good to hear from you.



Thanks David – I was really surprised at how this turned out with only 35 seconds of exposure. It shows how bright this region is and how sensitive the SBIG ccds are.



Thank Ivo – I appreciate your comments and you’re spot on – the Tak Mewlons have 3 spider vanes.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hi Ken

Thanks! I re-visited the Lum frame and after digging around in the bowels of the data, I think that I found G, H1, H2 and I as well. I re-sampled the data upwards to dig these faint fellas out and I think that they are real stars and not processing artefacts.

An impressive feat for the Tak 180 F12 at prime focus (2160mm). I didn’t get much of an opportunity to assess the seeing due to the clouds, but I suspect it must have been very good to resolve these details in a 5 sec exposure.

Here are some data from SkyTools describing this multiple star system:

Theta 1 Ori, Multiple Star System, Magnitude: 5.13
AB: 5.13+6.35 mag, In 1991: PA 312° Sep 12.87"
AC: 5.13+7.2 mag, PA 56° Sep 13.12"
AD: 5.13+7.49 mag, PA 342° Sep 16.87"
AE: 5.13+6.4 mag, PA 134° Sep 135.30"
EF: 6.4+7.5 mag, PA 92° Sep 52.50"
EG: 6.4+9.1 mag, PA 97° Sep 128.70"
BH: 6.35+11.1 mag, Sep 4.10"
AI: 5.13+11.5 mag, PA 122° Sep 4.00"

Cheers

Dennis

[DavidU]

Fine work again Dennis !

[strongmanmike]

Excellent result from a few seconds of work Dennis :thumbsup:

Love the colours in the original too.

MIke

[multiweb]

Love that shot. Real nice. :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Nice to see more from you Dennis, welcome back!

[danielsun]

Wow Dennis, I don't think I seen the trap stars split so finely.:thumbsup:
Nice work and nice colours on the 1st.;)

Cheers Daniel.

[jjjnettie]

We are so overwhelmed by the overall view of M42, that we don't take the time to take in the finer details. A worthy target on it's own as you've shown us.
Beautiful work Dennis.

[Dennis]

Thanks Mike, Marc, Mike, Daniel and Jeanette, I appreciate your comments. I really enjoyed my re-acquaintance with the night skies after a lengthy absence, mainly due to poor weather and liking my bed too much!:)

Cheers

Dennis

[atalas]

what nice resolution.....such short exposure too.

[Hagar]

Nice core area there Dennis, The colours have me questioning some of my older images but it's nice and clean and sharp.
Well done.

[ballaratdragons]

Dennis,

WOW is all I can say!
I spent my early years of imaging on the trap trying to pull out G and H1&2.
You have surpassed all my previous efforts by also pulling out I.

Well done!
Link to your fantastic image: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=89096

[gregbradley]

Longer exposure is not always better.

Great resolution.

Greg.

[John Hothersall]

Lovely colour, I could not get that green with my Mintron video camera, great trap separation.

John.