M42 Orion Nebula and Sh2-279 Running Man Nebula

[Trev S]

With the lack of clear skies recently, I have been looking back at some of my early images.  The attached image was taken on the 28th of December 2016 using my Canon Eos 700D.  My early attempts at processing it were done using DSS and Photoshop but this time I processed it using Astro  Pixel Processor.  The results are much improved.

I took some short exposures to get details of the central part of M42 including the trapeze and some longer exposures to get details of the fainter nebulae.  I then combined them using Photoshop layer masks to give better overall exposure.

Esprit 80ED on AZ-EQ6GT

Canon Eos 700D modified

8x120s

30x60s

10x5s

10x3s

PHD2 guiding

Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop processing

Thanks for looking

[JR]

Very good indeed Trevor.

You may be on to something.  I use the image scheduling routine in SkyX, and the ASCOM drivers have options only for Y, Raw8 and Raw16.  I will investigate.

James

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On 25 Jan 2021, at 14:06, Trev S <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:



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<M42-RGB-120&5s_PS2mc.jpg>

[trevsie7]

Maybe you could try taking a daylight image using SharpCap with RGB24, RAW8 & RAW16 and see if the same problem occurs?

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[tcos...@gmail.com]

Hi Trev

That’s a very nice image. You’ve managed to combine the overwhelmingly bright trapezium area with the rest of the nebula and achieve a pleasing result. I agree it’s worthwhile to take a look at data taken a while back to have another go at processing if obvious improvements can be made, particularly as one’s skill and experience at processing develops over time.

Cheers

Tim C

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[JR]

Good idea

James 

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On 26 Jan 2021, at 20:20, trevsie7 <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[William Bottaci]

Hello Trevor, that's one of the better images I've seen of this
nebula. As Tim says you've combined the sets of images very well.
Layer masking is a technique that makes a big difference with nebulae
and galaxies, even the Moon - objects with a wide brightness range. If
our eyes see the core of M31 Andromeda reasonably well, and the arms
not at all, then it's required if a camera is going to do it justice.
With the Moon it's a lot more obvious, comparing what we see with the
resultant image. Just one more thing to learn ... where will it end?

Interesting choice of exposure times; two groups of two. I see how it
makes sense.

For Kevin and I using SharpCap, our option is RAW12 rather than RAW16,
but I think the camera is deciding this - an Altair HC 183C. Funny how
with some people they see RAW8 and RAW16 but we see only RAW12. It
seems to be the camera but I'm not entirely convinced. The 183C is
12-bit but stretches to 16-bit when outputting as .FITS files.

I prefer this image over others that may have been taken with better
equipment and skies; the 'HDR' effect is more realistic.

Thanks for sharing.
William



On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 at 22:21, 'JR' via croydonastro
<croydo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Good idea
James

On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 at 20:46, <tcos...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Trev
That’s a very nice image. You’ve managed to combine the overwhelmingly
bright trapezium area with the rest of the nebula and achieve a
pleasing result. I agree it’s worthwhile to take a look at data taken
a while back to have another go at processing if obvious improvements
can be made, particularly as one’s skill and experience at processing
develops over time.
Cheers
Tim C

On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 at 20:20, trevsie7 <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:
Maybe you could try taking a daylight image using SharpCap with RGB24,
RAW8 & RAW16 and see if the same problem occurs?

On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 at 13:07, 'JR' via croydonastro
<croydo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Very good indeed Trevor.
You may be on to something. I use the image scheduling routine in
SkyX, and the ASCOM drivers have options only for Y, Raw8 and Raw16.
I will investigate.
James