M42 and the Running Man nebula with Takahashi 150mm

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on a user's first serious attempt at astrophotography, specifically capturing M42 and the Running Man nebula using a Takahashi 150mm refractor and SBIG STL-11000M CCD. The total exposure time was 40 minutes, with contributions from R, G, B, and Ha filters. The user encountered challenges when using the H-alpha image as a luminance frame, which resulted in strange star halos. They found a solution on Rob Gendler's website, which involved adjusting the opacity of the Ha image to improve the final result. Overall, the experience was educational, highlighting the complexities of astrophotography.
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First post on PF, thought I'd share my first serious attempt at astrophotography. I used itelescope since it's perpetual cloud cover where I'm at sadly, and all of my processing was done in Astroart. I learned a lot with this, but it's definitely an uphill struggle!

M42ColorFinal.jpg

M42 and the Running Man nebula.

Total exposure time was 40 minutes (10 in R,G,B and Ha each) and the equipment was a Takahashi 150mm refractor with an SBIG STL-11000M CCD.
 
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Nice. Did you use HA as a luminance frame?
 
Sort of. I tried to use just the H-alpha image as luminance with the RGB but it made the stars look really weird, especially with large halos around the brighter ones. I looked around and found Rob Gendler's website that discusses ways around this, and it helped a lot. One of his solutions was to lower the opacity of the Ha image relative to the others, then integrate it, and that did the trick for me.
 
nice shots of M3 and M42 guys!
 

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