[petuniasevan]

Here's the details for this GREAT amateur photo:

Technical Details:

• Subject: M42, Orion Nebula
• Instrument: Astro Physics 7-inch f/7.0 EDF Refractor
• Instrument: Nikon 300mm f/2.8 EDIF Lens
• Platform: Astro Physics 1200 German equatorial mount
• Exposure: 1 X 70 minutes
• Exposure: 7 X 30 minutes, hydrogen alpha
• Film: Kodak PPF 400
• CCD: SBIG ST10E
• Photographer: John Gleason, Celestial Images
• Notes: Original Kodak PPF 400 negative scanned as a transparency onto Kodak ProPhoto CD. No masking performed to preserve highlight details in the bright core of the Orion nebula. Color balance and curves stretch in PhotoShop to enhance faint details of molecular cloud surrounding brighter portions of the nebula. Further exposure enhancement by combining Hydrogen alpha CCD image to reveal fainter, background nebula.

  Note he used a 7-inch REFRACTOR telescope! Great for detail (no obstruction to reduce light transmission) but a lens that size costs BIG bucks!

  Here are the Hydrogen-Alpha filter image and color film image to compare:

  

[petuniasevan]

[SquirrelKing]

Thanks! This thread is spiffy.

[biblewonk]

It sure doesn't look like that with my new binoculars.

[Sally II]

That's an amateur photo? By the way, my Dad got one of those fancy Mead telescopes and we haven't been able to see more than the moon. We're very frustrated star watchers. Anyhow, those are spectacular photos. It's amazing how much amazing beauty exists so far beyond our vision.