Taking a Tracking Break to Photograph the Orion Nebula
All this work-around troubleshooting the Lego Star Tracker has started to do my head in. So it’s time to just put it away for a bit and focus on something else to clear my mind. I’m not in any hurry with the tracker and I’m at peace with the fact it’s a long-term project. So the Orion nebula was the perfect distraction for me this evening.
On the back end of a disappointing tracking session, I just decided to try and grab a few snaps of the Orion nebula with the Samyang 135mm f/2. Didn’t really plan anything fancy, just a quick setup on the back porch. It’s just another opportunity to test some things out with this lens. The bonus for me is that the Running Man nebula is well defined in my photo also. Here is a look at the results.
I had to fight to get this snap as the nebulae were drifting across my neighborhood power lines and into the treeline in my backyard. But I managed to keep it well centered in my field of view by changing my shooting spot. I also went ahead and took dark and flat frames and stacked this in Deep Sky Stacker. Just a light post-process in Siril and then a small levels adjustment in Gimp to finish this picture.
I’m still not overly motivated at this point to up my Gimp game with post-processing. It is what it is for now. I know that there are a few screwy color gradients in this photo, but with the light pollution situation, I’m not sure there’s much of a point right now to spend the time trying to fix these. The best fix will be darker skies. Besides, I’ve had other priorities in working with the tracker and the Samyang takes such nice photos that I can produce good quality photos by simply using the Siril tools.
Anyway, another jewel for my gallery to finish off a short and sweet update today.