Thanks all for the processing tips and techniques, i myself prefer a darker background with less noise/less detail, than more noise more detail.
I would prefer to lose a little detail for less noise in my images. I will try for longer and longer exposures to get the detail, and process as much noise out as can be.
Tony, there is nothing at all wrong with your processing, and as stated i prefer the way you have adjusted my image, and can live with a little less detail, that being said, i also like all the others attempts at bringing out detail, Robs effort shows just how much there was in the image, it was hidden.
I would love to expose M42 for 5-10 minutes onto the cmos, but think it is asking too much of just polar alignment and the EQ6 ?
Any tips on getting extra long exposures Itchy? would i need to buy a guiding camera/software/laptop