First! Saw Rigel just above the treeline after finishing up with 2013 A1 so knew M42 wasn't far behind. Looking forward to getting some big data on this with the new scope in a few weeks time when it gets more elevation. A few snaps with the ED100, Pentax K-5.
Spring? But winter only just got here! Darn, astronomy season is so short here in Mackay.
The exposure varied from 30 seconds to a minute as the light from dawn fogged the frame. It's just a test pic. The plan is to get the most spectacular M42 that I've taken.... in a few weeks time.
Love the image Kevin, but hate the haloes that refractors produce, so
I don't use my 80mm any more. If I ever start guiding I can use it as a guidescope.
raymo
Nice exposure Kevin, the orion neb is easy to capture on digital but not so easy to do it well. There is a lot of faint nebula but a lot of bright stuff as well. You have managed to get a good balance without "blowing out" the core. I always enjoy that part of the sky. I did notice that M31 andromeda was fairly high at 3.30am, but I have only one spot in my yard where I can set the scope up to capture that low to the north, with only a 1 hour window. Its tempting to make the effort while the weather is good though.
Cheers Rick
Thanks Bob an Rick. M31 would be nice Rick. You are like me with limited sky space. I will have to do M42 in multiple sessions to get the data I need. A bit frustrating really. I need an observatory....
M31 has a really bright core but the faint stuff takes a lot of exposure to capture. Here is a shot I did last year with the 102mm f7 bosma achro (piggybacked on my pier eq mount cave 8" through the laundry door) I should have had the camera on the bigger scope but the 8" reflector is a really great guide scope with the eyepiece up high and all. It took me a while to polar align through the doorway but at least I could leave the scope set up for a few days. Yea an observatory......mmmm yes please.
Are you sure? I think I first saw it in Morgan South Australia 180 kms north of Adelaide. Maybe my memory is failing but I am sure that I Have seen it before I moved to Mackay.
You don't want too much magnification for M31. I think an 8" F6 might be a bit much for it. My best pic of it was with a 5.5" F3.64 Celestron "Comet catcher" and TP-2415 film. I think my short F5.5 ED80 would be perfect.
You are right, it would be right out of the field of view. Not many bright stars in the field my 5" achro refractor might work ok? with a lot of subs. Thats why we have different scopes for different obs. Ah tech pan film ...you are going back a while now. It might be a canditate for my no name brand 8 "f4 newt. if I can get the focus/collimation sorted.
You are right, it does clear the horizon for me, but at it's highest it's
lower extremity is 13 degrees above the horizon directly above the
town that I live on the edge of, so the LP makes it just about invisible,
and definitely not suitable for imaging. I suppose I could go for a drive and find somewhere without trees. As well, with an object that low,
I would need good seeing to get a reasonable image.
raymo
Saw Rigel just above the treeline after finishing up with 2013 A1 so knew M42 wasn't far behind. Looking forward to getting some big data on this with the new scope in a few weeks time when it gets more elevation. A few snaps with the ED100, Pentax K-5.
that must mean spring is coming 
