M42 - 1st attempt

I think the ring takes the biscuit. And it looks better than when you posted it here. But I also like the variety you have there too. Good job.

Thanks Dave, I'd say the difference in the ring was down to asking Jed Glover to do the processing rather than my own measly attempt.

:shock:
Excellent Image of M42!!

Keith.

Dave,

This is a very commandable effort. In spite of the fact that M42 is stunning, it is one tough beast to tame due to the tremendous dynamic range throughout.

If you can go slightly wider field, you will also capture the Running Man Nebula which is also quite interesting.

As noted by Dave McD, we are slowly getting into prime Orion season. Tomorrow my SBIG ST-2000XM is off to the US for repairs ... I set it up last Friday evening to shoot M42 and M45 and 2-3 minutes later it accidently fell from the focuser drawtube. Net result: a broken carousel wheel (holding the filters), the cooling system is now toast since I cannot cool below ambient temperature and a couple of screws holding the filter wheel onto the CCD camera snapped and are permanently left in the faceplate.

Anthony.

Dave,

This is a very commandable effort. In spite of the fact that M42 is stunning, it is one tough beast to tame due to the tremendous dynamic range throughout.

If you can go slightly wider field, you will also capture the Running Man Nebula which is also quite interesting.

As noted by Dave McD, we are slowly getting into prime Orion season. Tomorrow my SBIG ST-2000XM is off to the US for repairs ... I set it up last Friday evening to shoot M42 and M45 and 2-3 minutes later it accidently fell from the focuser drawtube. Net result: a broken carousel wheel (holding the filters), the cooling system is now toast since I cannot cool below ambient temperature and a couple of screws holding the filter wheel onto the CCD camera snapped and are permanently left in the faceplate.

Anthony.

Oh Anthony, so sorry to hear about your troubles One thing I always do is wrap something (a shoelace, a bungee, anything to make sure if something comes loose, then it wont fall to the ground.)

Thanks for the comments. At the moment I dont have anything wery wide field. My 5" mak @1500mm is the widest I have. I do plan to get a widefield refractor around christmas though.

A pity about the camera Anthony, I was considering putting down something like carpet around the scope, just incase something like that was to happen. Did it fall on concrete??