Object info

The Orion Nebula is the brightest diffuse nebula in the northern sky and also one of the brightest deepsky objects at all. It is easily visible, even under moderately good conditions. It lies at a distance of about 1300 light years. The nebula is estimated to be approximately 24 light years across. It contains a very young open cluster at the center, known as the Trapezium. This nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the northern sky.

Processing

DSLRFocus was used to focus the scope and create the imaging series. ImagesPlus 2.8 was used to calibrate the light frames with 15 dark frames and 15 flat frames (incl. flat-darks). The flat frames were shot using the 2 reflective surface (1 diffusing) technique as described by Ron Wodaski. Photoshop CS2 was used for post-processing, levels and curves adjustments. Noel Carboni's astronomy tools were used for DSO enhancement and noise reduction. A masking technique was used to combine a 10x60 sec image to keep the Trapezium details intact after processing.

Comments

-

Previous versions

Jan 14, 2007 - 900 x 675 Pixel (189 kB)
Optics : TMB 80/480 + Baader UHC-S
Mount : Losmandy G-11 + Canon 350D
Exposure : 25 x 240 sec @ ISO800 = 1h 40m

Jan 07, 2006 - 704 x 528 Pixel (142 kB)
Optics : Orion 80/600 ED + Baader UHC-S
Mount : OTE150 + Canon 350D
Exposure : 12 x 300 sec @ ISO800 = 1h 7m

Nov 07, 2005 - 922 x 691 Pixel (194 kB)
Optics : Orion 80/600 ED + Baader UHC-S
Mount : OTE150 + Canon 350D
Exposure : 7 x 180 sec @ ISO800 = 21m