My photo's of M42 (from Feb and March)

[Daveskywill (David)]

Hello:

I've got some results of Orion and M42 using a Canon Rebel EOS 550D T2i camera an 80-200 mm zoom lens mounted equatorially on a Meade Starfinder mount. The mount isn't the best, however it's a firmer mount than my LX200 even thought the LX200 is a scope too and not just a mount. However the Starfinder is a bit lighter so I can carry it into the back yard where it's darker too.

The equipment I've got is able to get some halfway good results, at least something that I'm proud of sometimes.

PS: I'm still thinking of an observatory and I've moved back with my parents in their country location. I might be getting a job soon. And hope that makes some extra bucks for this astronomical endeavor.

The first pic is OrionCanon which is of a wide field showing the constellation Orion.

Then there's M42 Attempt which is a little grainy and/or out of focus.

Finally there's is M42 2nd which is a bit zoomed out, but of higher detail too.

I used tracking (Starfinder) for the M42 pics. And I've found that those nebula (light pollution) filters are good for increasing contrast and reducing noise. Are Lumicon the best filter available? They're kind of pricey.

The exposure for the M42 images were about 20-30 seconds at ISO 3200 to 6400.

Thank you. See you.

[CarlJoseph (Carl)]

Nice work David. Way better than my first pics.

I'm only a beginner myself but found that practicing to focus made the biggest single difference for me. I use a Bahtinov mask on my scope to help focus on Sirius. Once it's all in focus you can move to anywhere in they sky and be assured that focus is still quite good.

I made my own mask using this site ... http://astrojargon.net/MaskGen.aspx?...ookieSupport=1 I'm sure you can do something similar for straight camera photography too.

Keep it up!