Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  41 Ori A)  ·  41 Ori C  ·  41 Ori D  ·  41 the01 Ori  ·  43 Ori)  ·  43 the02 Ori  ·  Great Orion Nebula  ·  HD36939  ·  HD36982  ·  HD37022  ·  HD37042  ·  HD37062  ·  HD37114  ·  LBN 974  ·  M 42  ·  NGC 1976  ·  Orion Nebula  ·  Sh2-281  ·  The star Mizan Batil II (θ2 Ori  ·  The star Trapezium (θ1 Ori A  ·  The star θ1 Ori C  ·  The star θ1 Ori D
M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux
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M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour

Revision title: M42 - Re-processing run / Orientated right way up

M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux
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M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour

Revision title: M42 - Re-processing run / Orientated right way up

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Description

M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core (1hr integration time)

After chasing the moon and the planets, I wanted to check the potential of this new C8-scope for the DSOs that I had been capturing with the TS94 and TS140 up until now. All on that same first evening

Although the C8 imaging train was set up for planetary, I switched the imaging train in the middle of the night and switched the ASI183 MCPro from the RedCat to the C8 (no hick-ups with the back-focus). The RedCat serving as guide-scope, with the OAG and ASI120.

So … what DSO to pick as ‘first light’ on this winter night? What would be the most mesmerising object to search for and see what this scope would bring? With Orion as the prominent constellation, glaring in this winter sky … what better opportunity could there be to go for the ‘heart’ of all DSOs?

The C8 swerved to M42, and when the first light of 30s appeared on the ASIAIR … time stood still for me …

I made a quick plan for a main short run on the core of M42, and some other objects in the neighbourhood. First time flats on the C8, a quick processing run, no special tweaks, just a straight star-image processing ,,, Stars seem a bit bloated, probably 30s exposure is still too long for this core. Some of the image doesn't seem to be crystal sharp, but good enough to give me a glimpse of the potential. 

C8 EHD, ASI183MC Pro, L-Pro, EQ6-R Pro
Photons: 30s G125 129x
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Given these first light results ,,, this next year, 2023, will be an interesting year …

Any constructive guidance is welcome

Clear Skies everybody! 🤩✨🔭

Follow me @astrowaut

Comments

Revisions

  • M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux
    Original
  • M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux
    B
  • Final
    M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux
    C

B

Title: M42 - Re-processing run / Orientated right way up

Description: Re-processing run
- Deconvolution, Arcsinhstretch (throwing my colour palette a bit off balance), StarLess processing
- Stars seem 'bloated', slightly skewed
- Orientated the right way up (captured with RA/Dec aligned to X/Y)
Guess that 30s exposure for subs/lights is still too long for this

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Re-processing to a better level

Description: In my enthusiasm, my first (nebula-)light with the C8 EHD and ASI183MC Pro camera, was a bit too ‘quick&dirty’ processing. In retrospect, compared to my image later with the C8/ASI2600MC, it didn’t come close to what It should’ve been. Logically, I should’ve had a similar result as my C8/ASI2600 image, even with a different camera/filter
I’ve now done a re-processing, taking better care of my colour balancing and detail management. I would feel this is an improvement compared to my initial version.
Happy to hear your thoughts …

Uploaded: ...

Sky plot

Sky plot

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M42 - C8 EHD First (nebula-)light - Straight to the core for 1 hour, Wouter Cazaux