My first try at the Orion Nebula was a total blurry mess

I was out in my backyard in Tucson last night, super excited to try my new camera on M42. I set everything up, took a 30 second shot, and it looked like a big white blob. I mean, zero detail, just a bright fuzzy spot. I realized I forgot to check the focus at all before I started, so the stars were all soft. I had to stop, use a bright star to get the focus sharp with a bahtinov mask, and then start over. It added like 20 minutes but the next shot was way better. Anyone else ever mess up the focus that bad on a 'simple' target?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_anderson13d ago

What's the big deal about a little blur? That soft, dreamy look is an artistic choice. Maybe you captured the nebula's true spirit, a cosmic cloud that shouldn't be all sharp and spiky. Scott.drew calls it a rookie move, but maybe the pros are too hung up on technical perfection. A bright fuzzy spot has its own charm, like an impressionist painting of space.

scott.drew13d ago

Classic rookie move, we've all been there.

hayden1446d ago

Remember when I tried to shoot the moon without a filter? Honestly, it was just a giant white circle with no craters at all. Tbh that kind of blurry mess just hurts your eyes after a while.