It took me some 2 hours to collect this data through gaps between sets of clouds in Brisbane last night, and in that period, all I managed to acquire was 5 seconds Lum and 10 seconds each of R, G & B; 35 seconds of data for 2 hours effort!
Rather than let it go to waste, I decided to process the data and I was surprised how well it held up. The six brighter stars of the Trapezium, A to E, have been nicely resolved.
Tak Mewlon 180 F12 at prime focus (2160mm fl) with an ST2000XM and CFW9.
That's pretty cool for such little data. Kudos for sticking with it and giving processing bash nonetheless - I love the result! There's something very eerie about the trapezium in this pic. Like it's staring at you...
Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy
how do you get 6 spikes?
I reckon the Tak in question has got 3 spider vanes?
tuti fruity colours Dennis - very sharp - how do you get 6 spikes? the trap look good
Hi Dave
Thanks for your comments, I like garish colours and the Mewlon has 3 spider vanes, hence the 6 spoke diffraction patterns. On bright stars, the 3 vanes act much like a Bahtinov Mask – quite a nice design feature from Mr Takahashi!
Hope you guys get some relief from the unrelenting heat soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mighty_oz
Pretty amazing stuff hey, guess it all adds up. Like the colours too.
Thanks Mighty_oz – I like the colours too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hothersall
Thats a great close in shot of the trap area with strong green emmission and lovely reds.
John.
Thanks John – It’s been several months (poor weather) since I last managed to set up and I appreciate your comments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Looks well defined and nice colours too. I like the trap stars.
Thanks Paul – I appreciate your comments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lester
Very nice close-up view Dennis. Thanks.
Thanks Lester – it’s always good to hear from you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidU
A fine image Dennis, great colour & detail.
Thanks David – I was really surprised at how this turned out with only 35 seconds of exposure. It shows how bright this region is and how sensitive the SBIG ccds are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by irwjager
That's pretty cool for such little data. Kudos for sticking with it and giving processing bash nonetheless - I love the result! There's something very eerie about the trapezium in this pic. Like it's staring at you...
I reckon the Tak in question has got 3 spider vanes?
Thank Ivo – I appreciate your comments and you’re spot on – the Tak Mewlons have 3 spider vanes.
Great work Dennis!
E & F are plainly visible
On your original image can you see G & H?
I used to love imaging the trap
Hi Ken
Thanks! I re-visited the Lum frame and after digging around in the bowels of the data, I think that I found G, H1, H2 and I as well. I re-sampled the data upwards to dig these faint fellas out and I think that they are real stars and not processing artefacts.
An impressive feat for the Tak 180 F12 at prime focus (2160mm). I didn’t get much of an opportunity to assess the seeing due to the clouds, but I suspect it must have been very good to resolve these details in a 5 sec exposure.
Here are some data from SkyTools describing this multiple star system:
Theta 1 Ori, Multiple Star System, Magnitude: 5.13
AB: 5.13+6.35 mag, In 1991: PA 312° Sep 12.87"
AC: 5.13+7.2 mag, PA 56° Sep 13.12"
AD: 5.13+7.49 mag, PA 342° Sep 16.87"
AE: 5.13+6.4 mag, PA 134° Sep 135.30"
EF: 6.4+7.5 mag, PA 92° Sep 52.50"
EG: 6.4+9.1 mag, PA 97° Sep 128.70"
BH: 6.35+11.1 mag, Sep 4.10"
AI: 5.13+11.5 mag, PA 122° Sep 4.00"
Thanks! I re-visited the Lum frame and after digging around in the bowels of the data, I think that I found G, H1, H2 and I as well. I re-sampled the data upwards to dig these faint fellas out and I think that they are real stars and not processing artefacts.
An impressive feat for the Tak 180 F12 at prime focus (2160mm). I didn’t get much of an opportunity to assess the seeing due to the clouds, but I suspect it must have been very good to resolve these details in a 5 sec exposure.
Here are some data from SkyTools describing this multiple star system:
Theta 1 Ori, Multiple Star System, Magnitude: 5.13
AB: 5.13+6.35 mag, In 1991: PA 312° Sep 12.87"
AC: 5.13+7.2 mag, PA 56° Sep 13.12"
AD: 5.13+7.49 mag, PA 342° Sep 16.87"
AE: 5.13+6.4 mag, PA 134° Sep 135.30"
EF: 6.4+7.5 mag, PA 92° Sep 52.50"
EG: 6.4+9.1 mag, PA 97° Sep 128.70"
BH: 6.35+11.1 mag, Sep 4.10"
AI: 5.13+11.5 mag, PA 122° Sep 4.00"
We are so overwhelmed by the overall view of M42, that we don't take the time to take in the finer details. A worthy target on it's own as you've shown us.
Beautiful work Dennis.
Thanks Mike, Marc, Mike, Daniel and Jeanette, I appreciate your comments. I really enjoyed my re-acquaintance with the night skies after a lengthy absence, mainly due to poor weather and liking my bed too much!
