3 replies to this topic

[TimN]

M108 is a nice edge on barred spiral galaxy located in Ursa Major that was discovered by Pierre Méchain on February 19, 1781. It's not one of the objects included by Messier in his final published catalogue but was added much later by Owen Gingerich in 1953. This was based on analysis of notes written by Messier and Méchain, suggesting that it was intended for inclusion in a later version. William Herschel independently rediscovered the galaxy on April 17, 1789. (from freecharts.com)

 

I had a few rare evenings of clear weather around the quarter moon. Unfortunately, I'm surrounded by snow and that makes things a lot brighter. Still, I shouldn't complain about any clear sky. Each night, I tried to image a galaxy that I had never tried before.  Even though M 108 is a Messier object, it was new to me. Just over 7 hours with an AT8RC on an AZ-EQ6. I used an ASI1600MM-C with Baader L,R,G,B filters. Captured with SGP and processed in APP with touchups in ST and PS. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[jhayes_tucson]

Very nice Tim!  That's a good result from just a single night of imaging.

 

John

[Eric Benson]

Hi Tim,

 

Can you check your focus more often or tune the focus routine better? I think I see double diffraction spikes, which are a sure sign of slight defocus when using a reflector. Now, if it is due to a processing artifact, well ok that's something else.

 

Good work capturing it from 'mozzie or snow, pick your poison' Ontario, I understand some of the challenges having lived in and around Ottawa for 35+ years

 

EB

[TimN]

Thanks John and Eric. John someday I hope to come close to one of your images. Eric, I'm not too far from North Bay next to a lake. A little darker than Ottawa but colder in the winter, more black flies/mosquitoes in the spring and lots of fog off the lake as the temperatures change - you really have to love this hobby. Thanks Eric for pointing out the focus issue. I was focusing all the time using Lum and it appears the R,G and B aren't all para-focal, I'll have to set some offsets in SGP.