M42 with a Dobsonian – No Tracking

Orion Nebula Core Area. 32 frames, 350ms, Aptina AR0130 Color Imager/Guider, 6" F/8 Newtonian, Dobsonian mount.
Orion Nebula Core Area. 32 frames, 350ms each frame, taken with an Aptina AR0130 Color Imager/Guider camera and a 6″ F/8 Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount.

Here’s one for the personal record book – shooting the Orion Nebula with a scope that has no tracking whatsoever.  It was on a Dobsonian mount.

I used an eyepiece camera in video mode and just let M42 drift through the field while I tried to get the most video frames possible.   I think I got between 35 and 70 frames for each video.  Out of 8 or 9 videos taken, two of the AVI files were good enough to try stacking select frames for a better image.

I used 16 frames from one video and 16 from another video.  Each set was stacked in IRIS with the planetary work process for AVI videos, then the two images were combined in PS.

The results are poor compared to what is possible with a tracking mount.  But, I knew it could be done with the right technique and I just had to try.   🙂

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