Better Imaging Of Orion Nebula M42/43 With Canon 1000D

You may know by now, I have a new “toy”.  It’s a Canon 1000D dslr camera (also known as a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS) and I got it as a Christmas present to myself!

It produced a lovely astro image of the Orion nebula, earlier this week. But I was told, (quite rightly), the focus was not there.

So I had another go last night, as it was the first clear night since.

Here’s the focussing tip that was pointed-out to me, this week.

If you are imaging a faint object like a nebula, set the Canon into “live view mode” so you can see on the lcd screen what the camera is seeing, then slew to a nearby star (there should be one, not too far away).

Then use the + button on the Canon 1000D to zoom into the star and adjust the focus so it’s sharp. When you are confident about the focus, slew back to the target object.

It’s a good tip. When I had another try at the Orion nebula, l produced this image..

I think it’s a lot better, although produced in close to identical conditions, apart from the camera focus technique I have explained.

Encouraging!