M42 - 200mm f4 Pentax SLR lens (Tom Gray)

M42 - 200mm f4 Pentax SLR lens

Revision title: RGB overlay

Another image with my new Hypercam 183C pro (fan) and Pentax SLR zoom lens. This time the iconic 'Great Nebula of Orion' 200mm at f4, with 12 x 300s exposures captured and calibrated (without flats) in Nebulosity v4, and processed in Startools V1.8 using a standard workflow.

I'm very pleased with the level of detail in just one hour, and the strong pink Hydrogen emissions. The core is inevitably over-exposed, and I also took some RGB exposures to try and eke out a little more detail (Revision B). As ever, I value our comments and feedback.

Messier 42, the Great Orion nebula lies 1500 LY away from us, and is 24 LY wide. It is a stellar nursery with intense UV light and stellar winds (>5 million mph) from the 'trapezium' causing the molecular clouds to fluoresce and carving out the core of this cosmic fire; it is not surprising the little man is running away!

Original
Final
B
C

B

Title: RGB overlay

Description: Original 60m (300s) narrowband with 30m (120s) and 15m (30s) RGB data added using Startools Layers Module, to provide more definition in the core, and improve star color. A brighter image, but more noise reduction required to remove gradients (waxing gibbous moon). Needless to say I have not managed to sort flats yet (which will be challenging as I've changed my setup several times, during 'playtime' with my new camera).

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: Combined narrowband and RGB data (with flats and darks)

Description: I've reprocessed from scratch, after taking some flat fields (a cinch with APT flat field tool) - unfortunately I was unable to exactly replicate the optical train, and need to take flats at the end of my imaging session to avoid this in future. I've purposely muted the colour a bit to try and bring out some more detail in the core and outer envelope, and produce a more 'natural' look.

Uploaded: ...

Altair Astro 183 M/C Hypercams
UK Astro-Imaging
Optolong L-eNhance filter
The OSC Club (One Shot Camera)
Camera Lens Astrophotography
Low-Cost Astrophotography

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Deep sky
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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	5407070
PixInsight job	QZIJR6QPBZYZ6BXLE08RTLNRX13BXELR
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	05h34m40s.52
RA (top/left)	05h38m42s.87
RA (top/right)	05h26m09s.43
RA (bottom/right)	05h30m36s.78
RA (bottom/left)	05h43m10s.88

Dec (center)	-05°07′53″.9
Dec (top/left)	-03°15′28″.4
Dec (top/right)	-04°57′26″.6
Dec (bottom/right)	-07°00′17″.4
Dec (bottom/left)	-05°17′59″.4

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