M42 and Running Man

[Astrod00d]

Hi All,

I took advantage of clear skies on Tuesday to make a start at deep space imaging. Please find attached, my first decent image of M42 and NGC1977. Comments welcome of course!

ED80 prime focus
Canon 400d unmodded 800ASA
EQ6, EQMOD, Cartes Du Ciel.
Deep Sky Stacker
Levels in Photoshop 5 LE

It's worth noting that all the above software is freeware. Even PS5 LE was provided 'free' with a Canon G2.

The image is a bit noisy. I think I need to take more subs at lower ISO.

Cheers,

Rob

[Matty P (Matt)]

That is a beautiful image of M42 Rob. The colour looks great and there is a lot of detail showing. Very well done.

How long were the exposures you used for this image?

[iceman (Mike)]

If that's your first image, it's a bloody good start!

Well done.

[acropolite (Phil)]

That's a fantastic image for a first effort Rob.

[RB (Andrew)]

Off to a great start Rob, looking good !

[Astrod00d]

Originally Posted by Matty P

That is a beautiful image of M42 Rob. The colour looks great and there is a lot of detail showing. Very well done.

How long were the exposures you used for this image?

Hi,

I wasn't using a guider, so exposure time was limited. The image was made up from 5 x 40 second exposures at 800ASA. Longer exposures resulted in visible star trails. Subs were stacked using Deep Sky Stacker at default settings. The levels were then stretched as much as I dared using Phtoshop.
I owe a lot to the members of this forum. The images and advice posted on this site are both challenging and encouraging.

Cheers,

Rob

[jase (Jason)]

As others have mentioned, a good start Rob. Watch out for black clipping as it would appear you've lost some valuable data in the fainter regions. Keep in mind that in PS, the levels and saturation tools stretch the data in a linear fashion, Curves and shadow/highlights tools are non-linear - use them to your advantage. Look forward to seeing more.

[Astrod00d]

Thanks Jase, I'll work on that. So far, I've only adjusted levels. I'd better learn how to use the curves tool next.

Cheers,

Rob

[h0ughy (David)]

nice start -look forward to more