Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Nov 10, 2009 6:06:51 GMT -6
First time Imaging of M42
08 November 2009
While on our six hour observation session on the 8th of November, ( astronomer.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Astrophotraphy&action=display&thread=2607 ), fellow astro bud Bill and I also did some Orion Nebula viewing.
Out of the muck and in good position, I planned to see if I could get anything on camera. With the latest success of imaging Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with the C5, I was hoping for similar results.
And I was pleasantly surprised.
With just the camera zoomed in, M42 was bright enough to capture and attaching the Canon to the C5 I got some indication of a nebula...
Seeing the Triangulum, I knew I was spot on and altered exposures...
Through the LCD screen on the camera, I was getting color....! I was very excited over this, as I never had tried to capture M42 before. With the limited 15 second/ISO 800 option on the Canon, this was about as good as it was going to get without Registax or similar stacking/processing.
Not a great shot by far, but for a first time attempt..ok. In comparison to a better image by an unknown astroimager....
Taken thru Bill's 4" Takahashi telescope, I used his nebula filter and it brought out nice detail.
I decided to try M31 and catch Andromeda in Bill's scope and maybe image it. Sinking into the muck in the west, we caught it and spent a difficult time imaging it.
As there was nothing I could see in the LCD Screen, even using the laptop remote control feature with larger viewing screen, it was hit and miss - and only verified after the exposure...(Thank goodness for instant digital...!)
But this was the best I could get with limited equipment, but you can just make out the tilt.
With that, we went back to some lunar imaging, (pics on the above link), and by 4:00 am...time to pack it in.
Another successful observation session.