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M101, Feb 18-19
- cathalferris
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 10 months ago #92426
by cathalferris
M101, Feb 18-19 was created by cathalferris
Got home from work at about 01.30 in the morning of Feb 19th, and I decided to take advantage of the clear skies and I set up the Onyx 80 on the LXD75 again. I had cleared space on the SD card, I had bought and charged an extra two batteries so I felt I was more prepared than the last time, when I took the m51 pics.
I tried a few 2 min subs, then I tried a few 3 min subs. After 20 min I checked them to see that every one was trailed, and trailed badly at that too. The LXD is just not good enough to do unguided at 500mm for more than a minute at a time. Good to know though.
I set up the scope, aligned to <5min from the pole, and focused up and locked down. I left the intervalometer off to do its stuff, while I used my binos on tripod to look around and galaxy hunt in the near-dark. I took 64 1-minute subs on M101 before moving on to Comet Garrad (processing at the moment as well, hop it comes out okay.)
My intention was to see if I could capture SN 2011 fe as I hadn't gotten to see it at all - and it comes up nicely in the pic, even with a nice blue tinge to it. The overall quality isn't that good - I've a lot of processing left to do on it when I get a chance, but this was rough and ready.
I did take flats this time, but I'll have to do a better job of it the next time, I didn't take enough of them! I took images of an evenly illuminated wall after I brought the scope in with the camera still attached. Easiest way for me to get them.
The pic is a centre crop. I'll go looking later to see what the limiting mag is on the pic, and I'll do a better cleanup. I'll have to get that LP filter though at some point. At least last night I wasn't LP-bound, looking at the histogram I'd probably have been able to take 10-12min subs if I was guiding.
So, 64 x 1min subs, 19 x 1 min darks, 11 flats, and 10 offsets. IRIS converted, aligned, stacked, and curves tweaking in Paint.Net
Better link:
www.flickr.com/photos/cathalferris/69042...es/l/in/photostream/
I tried a few 2 min subs, then I tried a few 3 min subs. After 20 min I checked them to see that every one was trailed, and trailed badly at that too. The LXD is just not good enough to do unguided at 500mm for more than a minute at a time. Good to know though.
I set up the scope, aligned to <5min from the pole, and focused up and locked down. I left the intervalometer off to do its stuff, while I used my binos on tripod to look around and galaxy hunt in the near-dark. I took 64 1-minute subs on M101 before moving on to Comet Garrad (processing at the moment as well, hop it comes out okay.)
My intention was to see if I could capture SN 2011 fe as I hadn't gotten to see it at all - and it comes up nicely in the pic, even with a nice blue tinge to it. The overall quality isn't that good - I've a lot of processing left to do on it when I get a chance, but this was rough and ready.
I did take flats this time, but I'll have to do a better job of it the next time, I didn't take enough of them! I took images of an evenly illuminated wall after I brought the scope in with the camera still attached. Easiest way for me to get them.
The pic is a centre crop. I'll go looking later to see what the limiting mag is on the pic, and I'll do a better cleanup. I'll have to get that LP filter though at some point. At least last night I wasn't LP-bound, looking at the histogram I'd probably have been able to take 10-12min subs if I was guiding.
So, 64 x 1min subs, 19 x 1 min darks, 11 flats, and 10 offsets. IRIS converted, aligned, stacked, and curves tweaking in Paint.Net
Better link:
www.flickr.com/photos/cathalferris/69042...es/l/in/photostream/
Last edit: 12 years 10 months ago by cathalferris. Reason: bad image thumbnail :/
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