Orion Nebula (M42)

Now back in Sydney I thought I would take the opportunity of some clear skies to take a photo of the night sky. The plan was to image the Pleiades (M45) star cluster but where I setup my camera was obstructed by trees. Had a great angle however on the Orion constellation so imaged the Orion Nebula (M42) for the first time.

40 light frames at ISO 400 for 20 seconds at f5.6, 40 dark frames at the same settings and then 40 bias frames at 1/8000. Post processing was performed using DeepSkyTracker.

Was very happy with the results considering the polar alignment was using nothing more than a compass with a correction for true south and latitude adjustment through a digital inclinometer. A rookie mistake in setting up the lens to still have auto focus on meant that I then refocus manually.

Click the image below for a larger version