M42

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

This was my first image taken with my new gear. It is the first time I ever used a refractor, and the first time shooting with a monochrome camera.
This was taken from my backyard in Aldgate, South Australia on Xmas Eve... I was looking for Santa!

Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ 106 ED
Camera: ZWO ASI 1600 MM Cool
Filters: ZWO LRGB and Ha
HaLRGB 240:60:60:60:60
15 min subs for Ha, 2 min subs for the rest.
Processed in CCD Stacks and Photoshop

Yeah... my layer alignment still needs some work. I'm trying to introduce some star colour back in and have overcooked it a bit... and colour balance still needs work.

[miki63au]

Stunning shot Jarrod

Great to see fellow Hills dweller here
I rent (at the moment) in Heathfield, Longwood rd.

I'm in the process to switch to mono-ccd/narrow-band ... not sure Atik CCD or the ZWO CMOS.

Mick

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

Thanks Mick...

Morning, buddy!! I didn't know that I had a fellow imager living close to me. I'm also renting.. on Hillside Road.. where the trees are a plenty! I was looking for a '"cheap"" camera.. the ones in line were the Atik 8300 chip, the SBIG... but this was an untried form of camera with different imaging parameters. I'm happy with my choice and the results I'm getting especially in the Hills. I hope to physically catch up with you one day!

[alpal]

Hi Jarrod,
looks like great data slightly over-processed.
At least you got some data.
I set my 10" f4 system up for the first time in over 15 months but the clouds came over.
I wanted to see if I could get the part of Orion & all of the Running Man in one frame?
All I got was one 4x4 binned 60 second L frame & I didn't even have time to focus between the clouds.
At least the answer was yes.

cheers
Allan

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

hmmm.. I need to calibrate my home monitor... there's a lot of Magento on the work computers..

[miki63au]

You have a pm.

Mick

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

Hey Allan!

Mosaic for your next project? Yeah. I arrived home from work yesterday evening.. and clouds every where. Tonight and tomorrow should be excellent I hope! (yes.. I don't know why I always crank up the saturation levels!)

[alpal]

Originally Posted by jarrod_koh

Hey Allan!

Mosaic for your next project? Yeah. I arrived home from work yesterday evening.. and clouds every where. Tonight and tomorrow should be excellent I hope! (yes.. I don't know why I always crank up the saturation levels!)

Hi Jarrod,
Yes a mosaic is in order - Orion & the Running Man..
the 10" f4 Newt. will do it.

When I first process a pic I can't wait to post it on the forum.
Then always - 2 days later - I end up re-posting a re-process.
Why is that?
I think when you stare at a monitor for hours & hours -
your brain gets tricked.
It's not until you don't look at it for 2 days then go for a re-process that
you see areas of improvement.
Every picture has 1000 variations & a BEST way to present it.
I know some people who spend weeks processing & reprocessing until
they release a picture to the public.
They also send previews to friends first for their expert opinions.

cheers
Allan

[gregbradley]

A nice image despite a few issues. You can do auto align in layers in Photoshop cc now so that may help.

Greg.

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

Thanks for reminding me, Allan. I've been blinking at the monitor for hours with this one. I've put up a less saturated version. I need to step away from this project for a week or so to recalibrate my eyes and brain!

[alpal]

Originally Posted by jarrod_koh

Thanks for reminding me, Allan. I've been blinking at the monitor for hours with this one. I've put up a less saturated version. I need to step away from this project for a week or so to recalibrate my eyes and brain!

That looks better to my eye.
Then again - you are free to show artistic license.

cheers
Allan

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Hi Jarrod,

Another great shot from you!

Some things that worked really well: The super-faint nebulosity between the running man and M42; the delicate shell-like lettuce-leaf-like breaking-wave-like top right corner of the main cavity around M42; seeing the Trapezium and the super-faint stuff all in one image. There's also a magnificent magenta "grinning cobra" structure on the inside of the main cavity, just above the trapezium. Perhaps the trapezium is the cobra's eggs?

At the resolution of the 200K thumbnail, I can't see any problem with registration.

Could be fun to produce a second more standard version processed to show just the brighter structures.

Best,
Mike

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

Thank you for your response Mike! Just to the edges of the field, the central bright stars are off aligned to the star colour.. Is that just a function of coma?

I got CCD inspector as well and I've got to correct some field ?curvature

Regards

[rmuhlack (Richard)]

Hi Jarrod - another Hills/Fleurieu imager here too! The data looks great, and the "toned down" version with less magenta is more pleasing to my eye. The ASI1600 and FSQ106 looks like a winning combo

[Paul Haese]

Nice to see you in the advanced area young padawan. I am very pleased to see your imaging advancing rapidly. Detail between running man and M42 is very similar to my award winning image in 2014. I am particular fond of that area and not many images show this level of detail.

You might need to consider using selective sharpening across the image to certain images, rather than using a blanket approach. I noticed some speckle in the image you showed me a few days ago.

The magenta is as you say a little high. My guess is backing off the saturation levels in magenta a little and then slightly reduce your overall saturation just a tad. Perhaps even selectively increase other levels to get the balance right.

Still this is a great image from a guy who has produced two monochrome images since commencing in monochrome in November. You are a fast learner. Keep up the good work and keep improving. You'll be an award winner before you know it.

[alpal]

Hi Jarrod,
Just checked -
Aldgate, South Australia is about 1500 feet in altitude.
The skies are probably quite dark there too?

That has helped as the fine sharp detail in the darker areas is fantastic.

cheers
Allan

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Outstanding image Jarrod!

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Awesome image, I agree with the others to back off on the magenta a touch

[jarrod_koh (Jarrod)]

I'm sorry for the lack of reply... The wife has gotten me to shift the house so I've been a delivery boy for the week. Also I have minimal internet!

Thank you Richard.. The ASI is proving to be a neat little combination and at a nice appreciable price point

Thank you so much Paul! I'm certainly getting there.

Hi Allan, I cannot remember the exact height ... Google tells me that I am about 300mt up? The darkness is around 20 on the SQM I think. Unfortunately there is a lot of light pollution from Adelaide (to the west)- which is only 10 Km away.

Thank you for your comments too Kevin and Nick.. (yep... Magento)

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Nicely done Jarrod!

While your de-magenta'ed version falls into the realms of personal taste, I'd prefer to see less purple. Otherwise, the thumbnail appears to show excellent detail! How about a larger version? Time to subscribe to a photo web site perhaps?

BTW, always post the day after you finish processing V1.0. A fresh pair of eyes always seems to yield a better result