Untracked M42

[jsb]

I wanted to share one of my first DSO images from when I started AP. This data is when I was using just a camera, lens and tripod from Nov 2021. I just reprocessed it yet again applying what I have learned so far.

Nikon D5500, Tamron 70-200mm @135mm, f2.8, ISO 1600.
521x2" subs (~17 min total integration), Calibration frames: darks, flats, bias. Bortle 5.
Stacked and processed in Pixinsight.

 

[JimFox]

Wow John!

This sure looks pretty good! I am liking the coloring in this with still quite the good level of detail.

In some ways, I like the colors that come from a DSLR a lot. It's certainly a very nice alternative. If the clouds don't give way soon here, I might be going back into my archives to process some older astro images.

 

[Ben Egbert]

This looks really nice for a standard camera set up

 

[jsb]

Wow John!

This sure looks pretty good! I am liking the coloring in this with still quite the good level of detail.

In some ways, I like the colors that come from a DSLR a lot. It's certainly a very nice alternative. If the clouds don't give way soon here, I might be going back into my archives to process some older astro images.

Thank you. I know it’s not like many other M42’s but it blows me away that just a standard camera, lens and tripod is capable of capturing this type of image. Never thought this was possible with simple gear.

 

[JimFox]

Thank you. I know it’s not like many other M42’s but it blows me away that just a standard camera, lens and tripod is capable of capturing this type of image. Never thought this was possible with simple gear.

I totally get you! I had started out very similarly except that I started out with the SkyGuider Pro and my Nikon D850 and Tamron 150-600mm. I had seen where someone I knew was using just that and getting these awesome Astro images that I had thought would never be possible with regular old camera gear plus $450 in a tracker. So I figured what the heck, $450 is really nothing to try and see if I could do it too. I shot almost 2 years with that exact setup before I finally got a real GoTo mount, and then the ASI2600mc Pro.

It is really amazing just what our plain old camera gear can do.

 

[Mike Lewis]

What a great post - it shows what can be done with common gear, builds excitement for those looking to just get started in astrophotography, and ends up being a very nice image in spite of not using a more expensive tracking setup. Of course, being a bright target like this is very helpful in getting these kind of results untracked I think, but still a very good job on the collection and post processing of this one! Very cool post!

ML

 

[jsb]

What a great post - it shows what can be done with common gear, builds excitement for those looking to just get started in astrophotography, and ends up being a very nice image in spite of not using a more expensive tracking setup. Of course, being a bright target like this is very helpful in getting these kind of results untracked I think, but still a very good job on the collection and post processing of this one! Very cool post!

ML

Thank you! Yep, being a bright target helps immensely. A big lesson for me is that it shows the significant impact that processing can have on an image. Looking at the original stack it’s difficult to envision anything good coming out of it but I kept reprocessing each time I learn something new.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thank you! Yep, being a bright target helps immensely. A big lesson for me is that it shows the significant impact that processing can have on an image. Looking at the original stack it’s difficult to envision anything good coming out of it but I kept reprocessing each time I learn something new.

Exactly - I have learned not to draw too many conclusions from the raw frames, either good or bad, as the post processing can be transformative and really produce amazing changes. That's why I think I like the post processing part of astrophotography as much as the data collection.

ML