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Finally got a clear shot of the Orion Nebula after months of trying
Last Tuesday night was the first clear sky we've had here in weeks. I set up my old Celestron 8SE in the backyard around 10 PM. The air was so still, no wind at all. I took about 50 two-minute exposures, stacking them in DeepSkyStacker. For the first time, I could see the pinkish gas clouds and the Trapezium stars clearly. My hands were freezing but I didn't even care. It felt like a real win after so many cloudy nights and blurry pictures. Has anyone else had a breakthrough with a specific target after a long wait?
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pat_wood5mo ago
That pink color is actually hydrogen-alpha emission, not the nebula's true visible light color.
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flores.emma5mo ago
Guess my eyes are lying about hydrogen-alpha too.
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the_margaret4mo ago
Fifty exposures sounds like overkill for a bright target like M42. My neighbor with his basic DSLR got a decent shot of the Orion Nebula in a single thirty second frame last winter. Maybe all that stacking software just adds fake color and makes things look more complex than they really are. Isn't the real skill in getting it right with less gear and less fuss?
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