Orion Nebula and friends

Jannyfox

Jannyfox

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Jan
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I'm almost scared to publish this with Sara's fantastic image just a few threads down but here goes. This is what can be done with quite modest equipment. Taken with a Canon 550D & Sigma 150-600mm lens on a Skywatcher NEQ3-2 mount. I'm still very much on the learning curve with this kit so I think I can improve on this. My partner combined the subs in PixInsight (I'm getting it very shortly and then begins another learning curve....) using its HDR function to merge a combination of 9 sec & 25 sec exposures. It was supposed to be 10 sec but my intervalometer can't count on 'short' exposures. All part of learning :) Processing done in PaintShop Pro x6. This is only just coming nicely into view from my patio as the house blocks half the sky so I hope to get another go at it soon. When I do I want to add a third set of subs as long as I can push the mount to, to try to bring out some more faint detail, and the dark frames I forgot to take.
From right to left - NGC1981 (open star cluster), NGC1977 (Running Man Nebula), M43 (emission nebula), M42 (Orion Nebula, though this name usually covers M43 as well), NGC1980 (open star cluster)

Orion Nebula by Jannyfox, on Flickr
 
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Well I think that's an amazing shot Jan (having seen it with my telescope I know the amount of light needed to view the nebulae in colour.

Can't wait for the next installment.

I also wish I'd have spent a little extra and got the EQ mount and not the Dob. when we bought it.

Terry.
 
Thank you guys.
The equatorial mount is almost a must for imaging but I can't get my head round the way they move, or the odd places they put a reflecting telescope eyepiece in. My visual scope is on an alt az mount - it's just so much easier! My camera setup is like using a refractor but worse. I spend a lot of time grovelling on the ground.
 
Lovely, well done (y)
 
I think that this is looking good - Better than my first Orion attempt :) It's all there, so that's a great start! I think I'd be inclined to have moved Orion a little up the frame and made it more central :)
 
swag72 said:
I think I'd be inclined to have moved Orion a little up the frame and made it more central :)
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It's a bit of a crop as full frame it's even more off..........! I think that came from having my head on upside down trying to look in the viewfinder, I may not have been looking centrally through it. And there's a bit of movement between frames because I'm not guiding which possibly edged it a bit more off centre once the combining had been done. I might be better off using live view, but having been a visual astronomer for more years than I care to remember it goes against my nature to switch the (red) torch on and the buttons on the 550D aren't easy to find by feel. It's all a learning experience. I'm just so chuffed with what I've managed so far - and the thought of actually improving on it.....................:)
 
That's a wonderful image. Must have taken a lot of work. Thanks for the explanation of the different objects in the image. Inspires me to try astrophotography.
 
Perhaps it isn't up to Sara's imagery but I really like and just goes to show what can be done with a more modest set up. The colours are really nice and look really smart against the dark universe. Looking forward to more of your images.
 
Even though I know full well that I don't have the patience to take the shots, let alone the skills (and even more patience!) required to process them, this and Sara's shots had me looking at motorised EQ mounts until I saw the price and then sense!

Please keep posting your results - both of you, it means I don't have to make an attempt at getting anything close to them.
 
Nod said:
Even though I know full well that I don't have the patience to take the shots, let alone the skills (and even more patience!) required to process them, this and Sara's shots had me looking at motorised EQ mounts until I saw the price and then sense!

Please keep posting your results - both of you, it means I don't have to make an attempt at getting anything close to them.
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Sara has the skill and patience, Nod, but keep thinking I have too :) It's a bit like at work when I used to do stuff that was actually very simple, but no-one understood it, so they all thought there was some sort of magic involved...............
 
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Jannyfox said:
Sara has the skill and patience, Nod, but keep thinking I have too :) It's a bit like at work when I used to do stuff that was actually very simple, but no-one understood it, so they all thought there was some sort of magic involved...............
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swag72 said:
The cost of astro stuff is crazy...... If I added up a new to replace price on all of my kit............. It would be very eye watering indeed. Meanwhile Jan, stick at it.... the only way to improve is practise :)
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TBH, the cost isn't a real issue. I have a decent reach system (Fuji X-T2 with 100-400 and telecon(s)) so would "only" need a suitable motorised mount/tripod. My real problem is patience and attention span! It's improving - but slowly...
 
Terrific image, only wish I had a bit less light pollution, a bit more patience and a lot more skill.
Matt
 
Very nice image, having tried this with a Skywatcher 200p and struggled I can appreciate the work put into this.
 
Thank you guys. To be honest, Rich, I find using the lens a bit easier than trying to image with a scope, but the hardest work comes afterwards in stacking and processing the individual images.
 
very very good - have to give this a try. How much weight can the skywatcher carry?
 
newbie1 said:
very very good - have to give this a try. How much weight can the skywatcher carry?
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6.5 kg according to the spec. It's pretty much the smallest of the EQ mounts but well capable of carrying what I put on it. I was originally considering eventually buying a 200mm reflector to put on it for visual observing but got the 150mm alt az set up instead as it's easier to manage. My mount wouldn't be the best for the full 'conventional' astrophotography set up (scope, guide scope, guide camera, DSLR/CCD camera etc).
 
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