Orion and friends

JohnPh

JohnPh

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I was taking images of Pleiades last night and decided to grab some data on Orion before I went home. I only managed six subs before the usual clouds rolled in, but was nicely surprised with them.

Modded 550D
200L @ f/2.8
ISO 800
Skywatcher Star adventurer

5 x 2 minutes
1 x 1 minute for the core of Orion.

Stacked in CS6
NCarbonis actions

Orion, the horsehead and the flame by John Phelan, on Flickr
 
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Very serious work… next time you go, may I come along?
 
Thats stunning, hard to believe it was taken with a 200mm, looks like a telescope shot.
 
JohnPh said:
It's amazing how big the nebulae really are. Thanks :)
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Yes and an easy one to find too. Might have to give it a go later if the sky clears. Wont be anywhere near as good as this though, no tracker or fast tele lens, but you have inspired me to give it a try, so thanks.
 
So assuming a modified camera is required for this (the OP did say it was taken with a modded cam) ?
 
bossy said:
So assuming a modified camera is required for this (the OP did say it was taken with a modded cam) ?
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Yes it's a modded 550D. Details in the linky below, it basically makes it more sensitive to Hydrogen Alpha light by approximately 4 x, allowing upwards of 97% of this light through, where previously only up to 25% of this light passed the colour correcting filter, depending on the camera model. You should still see plenty with an unmodded camera as Orion is so bright!

http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/eosmod.htm
 
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Very impressive (y) something else I'd like to learn about :D
 
Very impressive John.

I'm a keen astronomer myself, and the Orion nebula is always a great object to view
 
Incredible image.
Just looking to have a go at astro type stuff.
I fear it will be a long time until I could get anywhere near to these.
Well done.
 
stunning like gary says got to have a pop sometime,what would be a basic shot at this john,would a 150-500mm sigma be any good or something a little wider,no equ mount though any settings or any advice wha t so ever would be a bonus,cheers
 
I'm going to be starting on the wider stuff to start with I think.
I'm planning on getting a Samyang 14mm, on my D700, and stitching together around 10 (ish) images.
I'll See how that goes I guess.
These amazing shots were taken with a modified camera, to allow extra light to the sensor from a certain wavelength (I think), so way beyond my knowledge and ability.
But hey, got to start somewhere right?

I'm sure it's not going to be as easy as I hope though.
 
GHP said:
Incredible image.
Just looking to have a go at astro type stuff.
I fear it will be a long time until I could get anywhere near to these.
Well done.
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Thanks! I've really only started around 6 months ago, fairly steep learning curve though!

iwols said:
stunning like gary says got to have a pop sometime,what would be a basic shot at this john,would a 150-500mm sigma be any good or something a little wider,no equ mount though any settings or any advice wha t so ever would be a bonus,cheers
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500 divided by focal length will give you your exposure time without star trailing, the faster the lens the better, bump up your iso, stack multiple frames to reduce noise and improve detail, the above picture was only shot at 200mm!

GHP said:
I'm going to be starting on the wider stuff to start with I think.
I'm planning on getting a Samyang 14mm, on my D700, and stitching together around 10 (ish) images.
I'll See how that goes I guess.
These amazing shots were taken with a modified camera, to allow extra light to the sensor from a certain wavelength (I think), so way beyond my knowledge and ability.
But hey, got to start somewhere right?

I'm sure it's not going to be as easy as I hope though.
Click to expand...

Ive had some nice shots with the samyang 14mm and a 5D3, great lens for milky way

https://flic.kr/p/rhGxNC
 
I like that John. I have never tried long exposures but I will have to give it a go when I can get away from light pollution.
 
iwols said:
is this image cropped johnph
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iwols said:
and whats the Skywatcher Star adventurer like to use
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Pretty sure it's uncropped, I'll have to double check though.

The star adventurer is a joy to use once you get your head around polar alignment and balancing it . A really sturdy tripod is needed for it, my manfrotto 055xprob was not up to the job, I got a second hand gitzo and that sorted out stability problems I was having.
 
thanks johnph a few moRe questions hope you dont mind,did you use the skywatcher basic kit or the full kit,would a sigma 150mm@f2.8 or a sigma 150-500@f4-5.6 be most suitable for this kind of shot cheers
 
iwols said:
thanks johnph a few moRe questions hope you dont mind,did you use the skywatcher basic kit or the full kit,would a sigma 150mm@f2.8 or a sigma 150-500@f4-5.6 be most suitable for this kind of shot cheers
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I went for the full bundle, counter weight makes for easier balancing. Your sigma 150mm would be the one to use, nice and fast at f/2.8 and light enough to use on the star adventurer!
 
Wonderful, worth getting cold for :clap:
 
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