M33 - 15/12/2006

Last night I took a few images of M33. Below is the result.
12 x 2 min exposures
ISO400
Modified Canon 300d and Pentax 75 SDHF



From trying to process it, I learned the following:
1) I need more exposures
2) I need longer exposures
3) I need to learn how to process galaxies a bit better

Clear Skies,

Lovely shot Michael- your tracking looks bang on. Properly polar aligned now?

Thanks Dave.
Yes, I'm fairly well polar aligned now although there's always room for improvement. I used a program called WCS Polar Align to assist in the process. A star in a webcam on the 12" SCT can track on an exact point for a few minutes before it eventually starts to drift slightly. So, I should be able to get much longer exposures with a shorter focal length - the Pentax.
If it clears up tonight I'll go for 20 x 5min exposures of M33 and we'll then do a little comparison tomorrow.

Regards,

Your ploar alignment would show up more whenimaging with the 12". Still, sounds like guiding with the 12" is very good.

I'm expecting an improved imaged tomorrow

Dave

Yes Dave, that's correct and what I meant to say but I mightn't have been clear - the polar alignment error should show up quicker with a longer focal length than a shorter focal length.

I'm not guiding the scope. No need to at the mo. The webcam was used solely to fine tune the polar alignment separately. WCS Polar Align doesn't track a star as such, but rather tells you what the error of polar alignment is from how much the star has moved in the FOV of the webcam. Once I adjusted the mount and checked my polar alignment, I removed the webcam and proceeded to image as normal.

Cheers,

Micahel,

Nothing to reproach yourself with that magnificent image. I love galaxies, and i love monochrome images and i particulary love this one.