M42 Nebula

That is a very impressive image Gaz.(y)
 
Thanks both. This was genuinely my first attempt at anything other than star trails and the Milky Way. Never tried to photograph anything so specific.

This nebula is the middle of the three points of light visible to the naked eye in the sword of Orion.

Taken using a star adventurer tracking mount which, compared to the rest of my kit, is cheap as chips. Had a bit of practice on Wed night on setting it up and then went for it on Thur night.
 
That's impressive. Once I'm no longer working (getting up at 6am and astronomy don't go together) I shall be dragging my Skywatcher driven mount outside and putting the trusty 550D and either the trusty Tamron 70-300 or the Sigma 150-600 I'm picking up from the post office tomorrow on it. If I got anywhere close to this I'd be extremely happy. Out of interest, what stacking software did you use?
 
Gary,

What a fabulous picture. I have been trying for a couple of years for something like this.

I normally bolt the Oly onto an 8" scope, and have results, but nowhere near as good as you.

Very well done, and thanks for info for me to try harder..............

Superb..

Mj
:olympus:
 
Jannyfox said:
That's impressive. Once I'm no longer working (getting up at 6am and astronomy don't go together) I shall be dragging my Skywatcher driven mount outside and putting the trusty 550D and either the trusty Tamron 70-300 or the Sigma 150-600 I'm picking up from the post office tomorrow on it. If I got anywhere close to this I'd be extremely happy. Out of interest, what stacking software did you use?
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I used deep sky stacker and then a video tutorial by this photographer to get me going.

http://www.weatherandsky.com/blog/2014/2/camera-and-lens-astrophtography

The exposure was 63 lights and 30 darks. I didn't shoot any flats but might try it again with some flats added to see if their is a difference.

I used NIK noise reduction and also the detail extractor.

Success with a longer lens is really driven by how accurately you align the tracking mount. I found that mine would move slightly when I added the camera so made an adaptor to allow the illuminator to be mounted with the camera assembly already on.

A bit of time spent setting it up really does get you off to a good start.
 
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Very well done, I've been debating getting one of those star adventurers and it's nice to see what can be done with one. What sort of tripod do you have?
 
I've got a Gitzo 5532LS which I've had for a long time. My mate uses a Feisol which seems pretty good.
 
That really is very good, it gets even more impressive when zoomed in.
 
Thanks to all for taking the time to look and comment. I'm primarily a wildlife photographer but this year I've decided to take a step back from it and do something else. I'd dabbled a bit with star trails and the Milky Way over the last 18 months so decided to take it a bit more seriously. I wanted to see what was possible with the gear that I owned and buying the tracker was the only bit of kit I was prepared to add.
 
Gaz J said:
I used deep sky stacker and then a video tutorial by this photographer to get me going.

http://www.weatherandsky.com/blog/2014/2/camera-and-lens-astrophtography

The exposure was 63 lights and 30 darks. I didn't shoot any flats but might try it again with some flats added to see if their is a difference.

I used NIK noise reduction and also the detail extractor.

Success with a longer lens is really driven by how accurately you align the tracking mount. I found that mine would move slightly when I added the camera so made an adaptor to allow the illuminator to be mounted with the camera assembly already on.

A bit of time spent setting it up really does get you off to a good start.
Click to expand...

Interesting web site. My processing is very much trial and error but that's given me some useful pointers. I use DSS but Paintshop, not Photoshop, so I can't run the Nik plugins. I have a driven equatorial mount rather than a tracking head for a tripod but I imagine the set-up is much the same. Next winter's project...................
 
Thanks again. Quite lucky in pembrokeshire as there are a few areas to go with very little light pollution. Incredible to think that the light in this image has travelled 1350 light years to reach the sensor. The nebula itself is 24 light years across. To be able to photograph it just doesn't seem feasible. Technology is just great.
 
Stunningly good.
Matt
 
Wow! This is very good indeed! How much after work is involved in something like this?
 
Fabulous. Never really look at these types of images but this one caught my eye.

Gaz
 
Thanks all. I would say there is approx 40 minutes of post processing in this. From sorting the exposures out into lights and darks. Didn't take any flats or bias frames for this. Stacking them in Deep Sky Stacker and then into Photoshop for the final processing. It's a steep learning curve as the processing on this is unlike anything I've ever done before with curve stretches and colour realignment as you go. Then finally into NIK software for a final tweak.
 
I would be over moon (sorry) with a picture like this, superb picture Gaz--

Geoff
 
Cheers Neil/Geoff.

One of the most difficult things for me is focusing. Even in live view at 10x my close up eyesight has deteriorated over the years so trying to decide when these tiny dots of light are in focus takes me too long. As the 6D has WiFi I'm going to try steaming the live view to my iPad in the hope that the larger screen makes it easier to find perfect focus. Of course then you need to hold the iPad steady so another gadget for that. Going to look Like Professor Pat Pending from the Wacky Races at this rate.
 
I use a tablet with my 6D and ageing eye sight and it works OK. I can hold the tablet in one hand and turn the focus ring with the other. You can also manually focus from the tablet.

You could also try https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahtinov_mask apparently they are not that hard to make.
 
Thanks for the info with the PP! Simply amazing result!
 
swag72 said:
Nice one! A cracking M42 Gaz :)
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Thank you very much Sara. Praise indeed from someone whose images I am genuinely in awe of. ☺️

sirch said:
I use a tablet with my 6D and ageing eye sight and it works OK. I can hold the tablet in one hand and turn the focus ring with the other. You can also manually focus from the tablet.

You could also try https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahtinov_mask apparently they are not that hard to make.
Click to expand...

Yes looked at the mask. You can buy them for lenses. As the two lenses I'm likely to use both have 77mm filters I might get one as they are not that expensive. I've got a holder for my iPad that I will put on a second tripod. You can get clamps and arms for them but a bit reluctant to use them on my carbon fibre tripod as they don't tighten equally around the leg.
 
Always a very difficult photo to post-process. Trying to get maximum detail without blowing out the stars in the centre.
Not only is your focus, spot on, but your tracking is excellent and you don't seem to have any abberation at the edges of the image.
All in all a shot to be proud of, well done.
 
Thank you both. I did another bit of PP on it and think it looks a bit better. However each time you PP it you can get a slightly different look. there is definitely quite a bit to learn about curve stretching for the best results.

M42-Nebula-LR-Version-1
 
That second edit is stunning. I've often wondered about trying star photography out but not sure I have the patience, let alone the skill......
 
aliengrove said:
That second edit is stunning. I've often wondered about trying star photography out but not sure I have the patience, let alone the skill......
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Thank you. Let me assure you that my skill level at this is fairly low. I started by doing a few star trails and Milky Way shots. For this I did a lot of research on the net and then gave it a go. I must admit I did feel a sense of achievement when I saw what came out of the original stack. :)
 
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Truly stunning pictures Gaz! :) Very motivating to try getting some myself. Did you take the pics from somewhere particularly dark?
 
LoungePig said:
Truly stunning pictures Gaz! :) Very motivating to try getting some myself. Did you take the pics from somewhere particularly dark?
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Thank you.

I took this on the military range in Pembrokeshire at Castlemartin. Its a great spot for astro due to the fact that light pollution is not really that much of a problem.

I think Pembrokeshire has 7 dark sky sites now. The closest to where I took this is Broad Haven South.

I'm really hoping that I get the chance to have another go soon. There are several nebulae near Orion that I would like to try before it drops below the horizon before dark.
 
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Thanks for the info Gaz, this is really quite a good thread to help me decide whether to invest in a star tracker! And whilst I think your picture is rather exceptional, the great part is that with a bit of effort from my behalf, it does seem achievable. Really glad you shared the pic along with the info too.
 
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