Yeah, I know. I'd started on this before JJJ posted her very nice image, but I'm chuffed with the selective masking around the Trapezium in this one. Any it won't be the last this year either...
LRGB at 8 x 300s each channel, with a set of 30s subs as well for the Trapezium, and processed in Pixinisght and Photoshop. I've also got some S2 and Ha data, but haven't worked out what to do with that yet.
Scope was the Venerable Meade (10" starfinder f4.5 on a G11) and the camera was a QSI683wsg.
Constructive criticism, admiring oohs and aahs all welcomed.
Astrobin link http://www.astrobin.com/69759/
cheers,
Andrew.
And one more oooooooh and one more ahhhhhhh from me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allan gould
An oooooooh and an ahhhhhhh from me.
Allan
Quote:
Originally Posted by batema
Very nice indeed.
Thanks guys!
Quote:
Originally Posted by peter_4059
Oooh. That's turned out nice. The Meade gives a pretty flat field.
Hi Peter - I've got a Baader made Ross corrector on the front of the QSI which helps a lot with the relatively large chip. The coma was pretty bad on this thing back in the old film SLR days.
cheers,
Andrew.
I would prefer to see the centre kept brighter. Not bright enough that it would over-saturate but rather that it represents the fact it is brighter than the surrounding nebula.
WOW! Don't think I've ever seen this before Looks great whatever it is
Jo
And as I had foreseen, it wasn't the last of the year either...
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hothersall
Love the outer blue gray smokey ring you caught well.
John.
Thanks John - I like the creepy neck and mouth shape in the top left corner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Ripper shot. Very sharp.
Thanks, I had a bit of luck with the seeing, the tracking error was in the order of an arc second or two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerg
Great smooth colour
I would prefer to see the centre kept brighter. Not bright enough that it would over-saturate but rather that it represents the fact it is brighter than the surrounding nebula.
Thanks Roger - I've heard the same comment from another respected local astrophotographer, and did spend a bit of time agonising over it. I decided I'd rather see the 6 stars of the trapezium and the mackerel sky effect clearly instead. To my eye, this is more representative of the view through the eyepiece of the 25", although obviously there's not quite so much colour through the eyepiece.
Thanks Roger - I've heard the same comment from another respected local astrophotographer, and did spend a bit of time agonising over it. I decided I'd rather see the 6 stars of the trapezium and the mackerel sky effect clearly instead. To my eye, this is more representative of the view through the eyepiece of the 25", although obviously there's not quite so much colour through the eyepiece.
cheers,
Andrew.
I would agree with Roger on this... but I see what you you are saying and fair'nuff ... regardless, overall a very cool image Andy ...those filaments on the right look great
I love it on that angle, it make it look so different. So much to love about M42. The frothing waterfall of nebulosity to the right (3o'clock) with it's streamers of dark dust is gorgeous.
You might consider backing off a bit on the sharpening though, the stars are haloed.
Thats a class image Andrew, nothing like a new object with out a blown core, mate
Credit with ya processing on this one, also being a newish target, id have to rank it up near the best of em
Top show
I would agree with Roger on this... but I see what you you are saying and fair'nuff ... regardless, overall a very cool image Andy ...those filaments on the right look great
Mike
Thanks Mike - I have an excuse to reprocess it and see if I can find a compromise!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross G
Great capture Andrew....amazing clarity and detail.
Ross.
Thanks Ross!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie
I love it on that angle, it make it look so different. So much to love about M42. The frothing waterfall of nebulosity to the right (3o'clock) with it's streamers of dark dust is gorgeous.
You might consider backing off a bit on the sharpening though, the stars are haloed.
Thanks JJJ - I can't take any artistic credit for the angle, as the camera only fits on the focuser in one orientation!
Good point about the halos though, it might benefit from using a star mask during the deconvolution, since there's actually a bit more detail able to be extraced from the nebulosity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Fitz-Henr
Nice shot Andrew; you've captured some great detail in this image!
Thanks David!
Quote:
Originally Posted by astronobob
Thats a class image Andrew, nothing like a new object with out a blown core, mate
Credit with ya processing on this one, also being a newish target, id have to rank it up near the best of em
Top show
Thanks - its amazing how much better our eyes are at handling the dynamic range of these things than electronics.
Looks great whatever it is 
... regardless, overall a very cool image Andy 
