The core of M42

[tornado33]

Finally got a clear sky last night, first in a long time in Newcastle. M42 well placed near the zenith. Seeing pretty good. I was stunned to clearly see the 2 faint trapezium stars in Live View on the EOS Ra. Here is 4 x 2 mins ISO 200. In the old 350D that would be saturated out but the Ra has a better dynamic range, though not as good as those Sony sensors.

UHCS filter used. Hand guided as usual.
Full resolution here https://www.astrobin.com/full/3oq7xr...o33&real=&mod=
Scott

[JA]

It's gorgeous
I love the darkness.

Best
JA

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very nice. I knew somebody had to get lucky last night. Nice catch.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Scott
Nice image there exposing the trap
Well done !!
I was out last night too imaging M42 but only managed 5 x 180sec subs before the clouds rolled in
I don’t know that M42 was anywhere near the “Zenith” as it traversed across from east to north east to north passing the Meridian at its highest point of only 61 degrees and then descending towards the north west, which is a long way from the Zenith ( 90 degrees straight overhead )
Cheers
Martin

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Startrek

I don’t know that M42 was anywhere near the “Zenith” as it traversed across from east to north east to north passing the Meridian at its highest point of only 61 degrees and then descending towards the north west, which is a long way from the Zenith ( 90 degrees straight overhead )

Matter of perspective. After a couple of crownies I reckon anything above 60 degrees is close enough to the zenith.

[AdamJL]

Lovely, it's incredible when you consider what's hidden

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Matter of perspective. After a couple of crownies I reckon anything above 60 degrees is close enough to the zenith.

Very true !!
However I don’t drink and drive , if I did I’d fall asleep at 9pm before I even switched on the mount

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Coooore, that's cool.

Mike

[gregbradley]

That is a clever shot. Good to see those faint stars near the Trap as opposed to seeing them on a diagram.

Greg.

[petershah (Peter Shah)]

lovely crisp detail

[tornado33]

Thanks all. Oops I meant the meridian, not the zenith, yes from Newy it is north of the zenith. Whats really handy is the thin off axis guider that goes between the Baader coma corrector and the camera, allowing me to get corrected, sharp, round guide stars making the hand guiding so much easier, I have it so magnified that each pixel in the ZWO guide camera is a few mm across on the laptop screen. The 30x live view of the EOS Ra camera allows precise focus. The Sutching 10 inch mirror completes the deal

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Exceedingly sharp. Well done.