Project Planning....

With the arrival of my new wide field telescope, I've started planning my first serious astrophotography project for 2009...

I plan to take a "Mega-Data" image of M42 - The Great Orion Nebula.

Mega-data is a term used by astrophotographers to describe images with exposure times upwards of 15~20 hours.
I am planning (and hoping the weather co-operates) to capture 30 hours worth of exposure on M42.. Data will be mixed between RGB colour data, Hydrogen Alpha and Oxygen3 narrowband data. Majority of the sub-exposures will be between 15 and 20 minutes each, narrowband images will most likely be 30 minute sub exposures. I will take a lot of shorter exposures around the 1 minute mark to tame down the brighter areas of the nebula and give the image more depth and dynamic range...

If all goes to plan, this could be very special