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Messier 61, NGC 4292 and NGC 4301

Started by Madratter , Feb 24 2020 06:40 PM

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10 replies to this topic

#1 Madratter

Hubble

topic starter

Posts: 13,277
Joined: 14 Jan 2013

Posted 24 February 2020 - 06:40 PM

I continue to work on some of the Messier Objects that I haven't done yet. Messier 61 happens to be in a nice field, so when I saw I hadn't done it yet, it got on my short list.

This is 9.5 hours of 5 minute subs as follows:

R: 20

G: 18

B: 18
L: 58

Image Acquisition: Voyager

Image Processing: PixInsight

Telescope: AT8RC with CCDT67 working at about 1198mm focal length.

Mount: Paramount MyT

Camera: SBIG STF-8300m with Baader LRGB filters

Click on the image below to see it as intended.

An annotated version is here:

That picks up plenty of additional galaxies, but if you look at it full size, many additional ones are missed.

This is probably my last image of winter using the CCDT67 reducer. With Galaxy season upon us, I have switched over to the TS-Flat 2 to start imaging at the AT8RC's native focal length.

Edited by Madratter, 24 February 2020 - 06:55 PM.

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#2 DSOs4Me

Viking 1

Posts: 572
Joined: 20 Jan 2017

Posted 24 February 2020 - 07:00 PM

Nice image, nice stars - you can't beat a good mount.

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#3 sunnyday

Voyager 1

Posts: 11,276
Joined: 23 Sep 2019

Posted 24 February 2020 - 07:28 PM

incredible detail and sharpness.
I would like to know why you change your camera from winter to spring?
I know nothing about all this.

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#4 Madratter

Hubble

topic starter

Posts: 13,277
Joined: 14 Jan 2013

Posted 24 February 2020 - 07:33 PM

Nice image, nice stars - you can't beat a good mount.

Thanks. The nice thing about a good mount is how repeatable it is and how it responds the way you expect. For example I ran PHD2's guiding assistant last night, and backlash was so low, PHD2 didn't add any compensation.

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#5 Astrola72

Surveyor 1

Posts: 1,887
Joined: 16 Feb 2014

Posted 24 February 2020 - 07:37 PM

Beautiful image MR. Well done!

Joe

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#6 Madratter

Hubble

topic starter

Posts: 13,277
Joined: 14 Jan 2013

Posted 24 February 2020 - 08:02 PM

incredible detail and sharpness.
I would like to know why you change your camera from winter to spring?
I know nothing about all this.

Thanks sunnyday!

I usually use my AT8RC with a CCDT67 reducer that drops it from around f/8 to about f/5.9. This gives it more speed and more field of view. Both of those are advantageous for imaging nebulae.

In galaxy season, I'm willing to sacrifice some of the speed for better resolution. And I definitely do get a gain in resolution when I switch to the native focal length and use a TS-Flat 2 as a flattener.