First M42 with ST8XE

This is my first 'real' M42 (I shot a few unguided images last fall that didn't really turn out). This is also my first attempt at layering in Photoshop.

Basically this is what I did; I took a combined image, say the Blue. I lowered the histogram so all I could see is the core of M42. Saved it as a new TIF file. Then I took the same image, opened it again, and adjusted the histogram so I could see all the nebula detail (with the burned out core). Saved this as a new file. Opened both files in Photoshop. Converted these to 8bit TIFS. Did a select-all on the brighter image. Copied and pasted it into the image with the dim core detail. Then I used Select color range to select the burned out core, feathered it a bit, and then deleted the selected portion to show the dim core details below it. Flattened it and saved it as a new TIF. I repeated this for each color channel. Then I combined the RGB images and used PS to adjust the color and levels and sharpness.

Does this make sense? I thought it turned out OK but I have seen much better.

Here is the link this image on my site with the exposure details.

http://www.hetlage.com/astro/images/m42.htm

Any comments would be appreciated.
Chris

Attached Image:

very nice details and color, Chris!
The center looka a bit too orange.
A shot taken recently with a D60 digicam at sunny whitebalance shows the center more to the blue, see:
http://panther-observatory.com/gallery/deepsky/doc/M42_030103b.htm

The H-beta and Oxygen emission lines are sometimes shown more as green, sometimes more as blue, depending on the color filter design.

Johannes