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Old 20-10-2011, 08:55 PM
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Mark_Heli (Mark)
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Great Orion Nebula

I have been up late for the last 2 nights looking to photograph the Andromeda Galaxy. Just before midnight, Orion was rising in the eastern sky and I managed to take some shots of M42 - The Orion Nebula.

I am really please with the result. You can clearly see the Trapezium in the centre and the colours came out well.

I would appreciate if anyone has suggestions for improving the post processing.

Object: M42 Great Orion Nebula
Location: Sydney
Date: 17/10/2011
Telescope: Meade LX90
Camera: EOS 550d
Exposure: 5 x 30 seconds
ISO: 800
Mount: Standard Alt/Az
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Old 20-10-2011, 10:17 PM
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Can't make any suggestions as to improvement as it looks fantastic......Have to add that to my list...
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Old 21-10-2011, 05:14 AM
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rcheshire (Rowland)
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Mark. Very good. Nicely resolved trapezium. Same as M31, more subs will increase total exposure time and reveal a lot more detail. Still doing extremely well with your alt/az. Given your location and iso/gain selection 30 seconds is probably getting close to optimum - presuming that you have a typical suburban light pollution. In any case well done.
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Old 21-10-2011, 11:51 AM
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irwjager (Ivo)
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Very nice and subtle M42 Mark!

Even with these short exposures, don't be afraid to push the levels a bit more - there's more detail lurking in that data!
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Old 23-10-2011, 09:46 PM
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Mark_Heli (Mark)
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Hi Ivo,

Thanks for the updated picture - it looks great.

Just a quick question - which program and steps did you use? I am currently using Paint.NET with basic curves and levels...

I am keen to understand how you re-processed the image.

Thanks
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Old 23-10-2011, 11:17 PM
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irwjager (Ivo)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Heli View Post
Hi Ivo,

Thanks for the updated picture - it looks great.

Just a quick question - which program and steps did you use? I am currently using Paint.NET with basic curves and levels...

I am keen to understand how you re-processed the image.

Thanks
Hi Mark,

Just wanted to quickly show there's a little more data lurking in there - I expect the new rendition itself it may not be everyone's taste. With just a heavily 8-bit compressed JPEG to work with, it's hard to stretch it much further. Explaining in detail what I did to your image would not make a whole lot of sense, as you would normally start with the unadulterated data set.

I used my own software (StarTools), but you can get good results with any basic software that provides curves and some form of masking/blending.

It looks to me like you're got a good handle on histograms and clipping (your image looks fine). So next thing to investigate would be localized dynamic range management (aka local contrast optimization - it goes by a lot of names).

There are many ways to skin a cat, but what it all boils down to is modifying curves/levels for different parts of the image as appropriate and blending them seamlessly into a single image. That way you bring out faint parts of the image, while leaving bright parts alone. You'll want to make the most of your data, while keeping noise low. Then there's composition to consider - everything you do will impact the way the viewer perceives your image. Show everything (e.g. bring out every last bit of detail) and it may detract from some other things that you may want to emphasize. It's all up to your personal interpretation.

Some programs come with algorithms that help you with dynamic range management (PixInsight, StarTools, etc.), while other programs rely on a more generic/manual approach (PhotoShop - look for the Shadow/Midtone/Highlight tool). It totally depends on your personal preferences and what you are used to.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific image processing problems - happy to help (or co-scratch my head ).

Hope this helps,
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Old 24-10-2011, 06:15 PM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Wow & Wow ! For the excellent pic Mark and then Ivo for his subtle finesse in pulling that wee bit more out. Whe I finally get my rig all together I just hope I can come half way close to getting those kind of results.
Well done both of you.
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Old 24-10-2011, 06:28 PM
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AndyK (Andy)
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Excellent image Mark ... well done!
I have a 90mm Mak on a basic alt/az (iOptron cube).
I regularly play at imaging with a small CCD webcam (Celestron NexImage) but I've been toying with the idea of using one of my Canon DSLR bodies with the scope.
I'm interested to know how you've set things up ... in particular how you attached your 550D.
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Old 24-10-2011, 09:37 PM
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Thanks to everyone for their comments.

Hi Andy - I connect the camera to the telscope using a "Canon EOS T-Ring" and a "Bintel 2'' SCT adapter". The T-Ring connects to the camera (in place of a lens) and the SCT adapter connects to the telescope. They are both available from Bintel

http://www.bintel.com.au/Astrophotog...8/catmenu.aspx

For remote imaging (i.e. controlled from the computer) I use the standard "EOS Utility" that came with the camera.
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Old 24-10-2011, 11:45 PM
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midnight (Darrin)
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Well done and nice capture there Mark!

Darrin...
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  #11  
Old 25-10-2011, 10:40 AM
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AndyK (Andy)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Heli View Post
?.. Hi Andy - I connect the camera to the telscope using a "Canon EOS T-Ring" and a "Bintel 2'' SCT adapter" ...
Many thanks Mark. I'll no doubt need a different adaptor for mine but I'm curious about the length and weight of the whole assembly. I'll also probably need to do a bit of experimentation to get the whole setup within focussing range. I know lots of folk attach their DSLR's to their scopes but it's always looked a bit fragile to me ... A fair bit of weight on those small threads!
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