Another Deep M42

[Bolts_Tweed (Mark)]

Heres another frame from my deep Orion mosaic.

A series of multi layer dynamic range masks with images ranging from 30 min to 5 min. Might take some shorter to resolve the whirlpool and trapezium better next weekend but it works well in the mosaic as it is.

Would also benefit from some depth of field processing - dont know but would take more work when it could be spent on grabbing another mosaic frame. This is just a quick process from last night. Saturation and lightness adjusted to match other frames (eg horsehead fro) . Thought this one was interesting enough to post on its own but. Next weekend i'll add the running man (only got the 30 mins on it last night)

Televue no101is, modded Canoin 350D Usual other suspects, PhD, DSS, CS2, DL5

Mark Bolton

[AlexN]

Lovely Mark, Really needs those shorter subs to tone the core down, but once thats done it will be a real winner!

[Bolts_Tweed (Mark)]

Thx mate - yeah the shorter siubs are required - I might do them cause it looks worth printing. I take that back - I am on the home computer now and while I like subtle colours this looks pretty aneamic on this monitor compared to the observatory monitor. I might adjust the sarturation and repost.

Jus for a laugh atatched is a 30 minute sub to give you an idea of the challenge with the burnt core at the start.

M

[Bolts_Tweed (Mark)]

Alex - I think looks closer to what ties into the mosaic

[AlexN]

Woah!! thats a big burn out!! I've not run colour subs of M42 in over a year now, since then, all my imaging of M42 has been in Ha, and with the 16bit depth of the CCD and the narrow bandwidth of the Ha filters I get about half that amount of blow out around the trap... That must have been a real mean mother to process down... and after having seen that 30min sub, I can say with certainty that you did a marvelous job of blending the 5min with the 30min subs... just needs some 1 min and some 20s subs to tone down that last little bit...

Keep at it mate! This one will look great printed out... I still remember the quality of the print you showed me of Corona Australis through the np101, This should have a very similar quality to it in print!

[Bolts_Tweed (Mark)]

Alex - I think this closer to what ties into the mosaic - maybe still just a little bit subdued. If I was putting this on the wall as an M42 image I would probably even increase the Sat a bit more (not too much but - im just a mixture of shades of grey - comes with age I suppose - as my hair goes grey (whats left) so do my images).

M

[AlexN]

indeed, that looks closer to the horsehead you posted, however as you say the horsehead's saturation level (from memory) was perhaps a little higher...

For the mosaic, are you ensuring all panels are equally exposed? if not you could have a hell of a time getting the final imaging looking right.. I'd be aiming for 10x30min per panel with shorter subs used where needed to tone down brighter areas....

[Bolts_Tweed (Mark)]

yeah mate exactly - the HHead had 8 x 30 mintue subs and 5 x 15 min from memory to try and cover the dynamic range a bit -wasnt too succesful but. Ihave used that across Orion and now come down to M42 which obviously is a bit different but the dusty outlying regions are basically the same exposures times stacked so the look basically the same to the eye but as you know that means nothing with me

I will try and patch this image in this week so I'll let ya know how I go. Damn boring imaging sections or Orion with nothing but wispy faint dust in them (especially at these exposure times). Looks ok but.

I've decided to fire up the old HEQ5Pro on the tripod outside the observatory with the Black Diamond ED120 on it just to break the boredom next weekend. The TV can then just churn away inside the obs catching faint photons and it wont send me to sleep.

M.

[AlexN]

I know what you mean.. When I did 3 nights imaging the one target with 20min subs, the first 3 or 4 subs were exciting, from then on out it was boring, repetitive and sleep inducing... That said, its worth sitting through given the results you acquire.

I reckon imaging the empty areas with just faint wispy bits is a much better alternative to having blank areas in your final mosaic!

Lucky you, having a second setup to keep you occupied during the long exposure sessions! I'm forced to drink copious amounts of tequila to numb the boredom... That sure makes meridian flip time VERY exciting!