M42 - my best so far

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all

Here's another from Sunday morning.

20x 90s lights, 10x 90s darks
+
20x 20s lights, 10x 20s darks for the core/trapezium
masked in Photoshop.

EQ6, ED80, 350D (unmodded), unguided, ISO1600.

Calibrated, aligned and stacked in ImagesPlus. DDP in ImagesPlus, noise reduction, masking and saturation/curves in Photoshop.

This one suffered more from the inaccurate polar alignment (due to the larger number of exposures) and after combining in ImagesPlus, you can see some field rotation around the corners, and in the hi-res version the stars are most certainly not round. Some of that is most likely due to the method I use to combine them.

Lucky for me though, reducing to 780px wide hides those nasties

Anyway I'm really happy with this image, it's a big step up from my previous M42 thanks to the longer exposures and dark frames.

Comments/critiques welcome, thanks for looking.

[Shawn]

Ripper Mike well done, Not burnt out in the trap as mine always seem to be....

[h0ughy (David)]

well done Mike - that continues to amaze me - it is really a personal goal. I also not that you seem to be taking to this DSO stuff like a duck to water

[xelasnave]

Mike you are the man...yes indeed you are the man.

I am so very happy all your hard work pays you so well.

You make the rest of us look like we have our gear stuck in reverse.

I hope your image is already on its way to the mags around the world.

I have concentrated on this object for years and know the difficulties.. I guess you dont know how hard it really is...fantastic.

alex

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Ripper Mike well done, Not burnt out in the trap as mine always seem to be....

Thanks Shawn. My photoshop skills from planetary imaging meaning masking the core with shorter exposures is no big deal. I'm glad to be able to bring across some of the skills from the years of planetary imaging.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

well done Mike - that continues to amaze me - it is really a personal goal. I also not that you seem to be taking to this DSO stuff like a duck to water

Thanks Dave, i'm enjoying it and want to get better - but I know what my limitations are and I don't think I can solve those any time soon. I'll just need to perfect what I can get right.

Originally Posted by xelasnave

MI have concentrated on this object for years and know the difficulties.. I guess you dont know how hard it really is...fantastic.

Thanks Alex, M42 is of course a commonly imaged target but still presents great challenges for newbies and experienced astrophotographers alike (myself in the newbie category).

The sheer angular size of the nebula and surrounds makes it a great target for a shorter focal length like the ED80 as well.

Thanks again.

[Orion]

Gee that's a nice pic it makes me want to start imaging. It's a lovely part of the sky.

Well done Mike.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Very nice Mike colours and composition are spot on.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

nice image ... moved into multiple varied exposures and masking already.

[Ric]

Very nice Mike, you have captured great depth and detail in M42.

A very nice image indeed.

Cheers

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by Orion

Gee that's a nice pic it makes me want to start imaging.

[Tamtarn]

For the short time you've been doing DSO's Mike you certainly have the knack with the processing. Really great image with natural colours and smooth background

[davidpretorius]

I would be very proud of that one mike.

very very pleasing and happy for you!

[little col]

blimy thats a cracker mike , nice surrounding detail , beautifull core detail held together nicely , all in all an excellent m42 image .

may i ask though your method in blending the different exposures to gain outer detail but keep the inner core from burnout

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

You could try this http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/PS_HDR.HTM

or..

the one I am going to try is..

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/LAYMASK.HTM this one seems to have a better outcome.

[tornado33]

Very nice indeed, very natural looking.
I use Iris , it has a function that allows alignment on 3 areas of the frame to eliminate field rotation. IP also has a function where one can choose 2 stars on either side to align on, again eliminating field rotation.

Yes I agree the 2nd method is the easiest way to handle high dynamic range astro images
Scott

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks again for your comments.

Like Andrew posted, I use Jerry's layer masking techniques for layering the multiple exposures and reveal and detail in the core. It can be quite tricky and still requires you to make some decisions about how much guassian blur to apply, how much to set the black point in curves, etc. But it's a great tool once you know what it's doing.

[Bobj]

It now serves as my screen saver. Brilliant, mate.

[spearo (Frank)]

Great stuff Mike!
very nice composition and layout, i hope to get one like this myself sometime!
I had a little play with it just to see and found that by opening the levels window in PS, setting the black point on a spot in the lower right hand corner it enhanced the contrast between background space and the nebulosity.
might just be a matter of taste or even an artifact of my monitor (i can never really get these things right myself) but it seemed to enhance the pic a bit, just a thought
beautiful shot I say, should be printed and displayed proudly
cheers
frank

[Aster]

Just been looking at M42 taken through a 102 Tak. Must say, looking at yours, there is not much difference.

Very nice shot Mike

Alexander