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M42 a lucky single · **10 Likes**

I seem to have proven once again that Space is indeed not black.

M42 is also known as "The Great Orion Nebula" but I call it my nemesis. I'm very excited by this year's earliest effort and had to share it everywhere. After a long night battling my usual string of difficulties(balance, bad cable, pc lockup at 18sec remaining,focus, mount leg slipped, polar alignment etc.) I finally noticed that orion had passed above the 40+ degree mark needed to clear my trees about 2:00am. Having had a few decent guiding runs and a guiding indicator target full of sub 1arc second hits, I decided to stay up and give it a try. Glad I did. 15 minutes later I had this monster in the can.

Pentax K5
exposure: 900 seconds @ iso100
Skywatcher EQ6r-pro mount guided by a converted finder scope+asi120s

I used Opensource software Siril ,RAWTherapee, and GIMP to remove green, noise, color calibrate, stretch, asinh stretch and resize for web use.

More about my move to using Super long exposure or "SLE" can be read at Smith River Photography

Cheers!

**blues_hawk** · 11-28-2019, 08:28 AM - **1 Like**

@Adam --I should get bonus posts for this one. :P (excited!)

**cg57** · 11-28-2019, 09:02 AM - **1 Like**

Wonderful capture.

bladerunner6 · 11-28-2019, 09:07 AM - **1 Like**

Simply beautiful.

**swip** · 11-28-2019, 10:30 AM - **1 Like**

Wonderful. Perseverance prevailed.

redmenace · 11-28-2019, 10:42 AM - **1 Like**

Impressive image!

And thanks for sharing story behind the photo; obviously it was no small feat even if you needed any luck.

Snapppy · 11-28-2019, 11:09 AM

Incredible image. Good work pushing through that difficult night. Obviously the hardware setup and work was spot on, but I am equally if not more impressed with the work you did after you got home. Just having started doing some of these shots myself I find that takes an equal amount of knowledge and skill. Thanks for sharing.

GRB · 11-28-2019, 01:09 PM - **1 Like**

Very well done. This is a mystical endeavor to me.

7.62lew · 11-28-2019, 01:24 PM - **1 Like**

Amazing!

**whammerhead** · 11-28-2019, 02:42 PM - **1 Like**

Woooooooooow

**StiffLegged** · 11-28-2019, 02:50 PM - **1 Like**

Gorgeous image, I'd print that really big!

**Kerrowdown** · 11-28-2019, 02:57 PM - **1 Like**

Wow... just see my comments to you on your other image... they just apply here too.

jmacias · 11-28-2019, 03:04 PM - **1 Like**

Amazing capture! Your dedication really paid off.
Thanks for sharing.

**grog85361** · 11-28-2019, 05:27 PM - **1 Like**

I don't understand all the technology, but I certainly admire and appreciate the result! Very good.

**UncleVanya** · 11-28-2019, 11:13 PM - **1 Like**

Super nice image. I'm impressed.

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11-28-2019, 10:42 AM - 1 Like	#6
redmenace Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: dfw.tx.us Photos: Gallery Posts: 296	Impressive image! And thanks for sharing story behind the photo; obviously it was no small feat even if you needed any luck. Last edited by redmenace; 11-28-2019 at 10:50 AM.

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11-28-2019, 08:28 AM - 1 Like	#2
blues_hawk Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Patrick Co. Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,540 Original Poster	@Adam --I should get bonus posts for this one. :P (excited!)

11-28-2019, 09:02 AM - 1 Like	#3
cg57 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2015 Photos: Albums Posts: 1,134	Wonderful capture.

11-28-2019, 09:07 AM - 1 Like	#4
bladerunner6 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 2,080	Simply beautiful.

11-28-2019, 10:30 AM - 1 Like	#5
swip Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,827	Wonderful. Perseverance prevailed.

11-28-2019, 11:09 AM	#7
Snapppy Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 485	Incredible image. Good work pushing through that difficult night. Obviously the hardware setup and work was spot on, but I am equally if not more impressed with the work you did after you got home. Just having started doing some of these shots myself I find that takes an equal amount of knowledge and skill. Thanks for sharing.

11-28-2019, 01:09 PM - 1 Like	#8
GRB Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Southcentral Alaska Posts: 817	Very well done. This is a mystical endeavor to me.

11-28-2019, 01:24 PM - 1 Like	#9
7.62lew Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,192	Amazing!

11-28-2019, 02:42 PM - 1 Like	#10
whammerhead Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Belfast Posts: 128	Woooooooooow

11-28-2019, 02:50 PM - 1 Like	#11
StiffLegged Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2018 Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,636	Gorgeous image, I'd print that really big!

11-28-2019, 02:57 PM - 1 Like	#12
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,863	Wow... just see my comments to you on your other image... they just apply here too.

11-28-2019, 03:04 PM - 1 Like	#13
jmacias Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 490	Amazing capture! Your dedication really paid off. Thanks for sharing.

11-28-2019, 05:27 PM - 1 Like	#14
grog85361 Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Phoenix Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 894	I don't understand all the technology, but I certainly admire and appreciate the result! Very good.

11-28-2019, 11:13 PM - 1 Like	#15
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,460	Super nice image. I'm impressed.

Night M42 a lucky single

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