Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, OSC, 31 May 2016, David Dearden
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M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, OSC, 31 May 2016

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

Finally found my Fringe Killer UV/IR cut filter and used that rather than the UHC-S, and I think that helped. Had an easy time finding M101 via SGP's plate solver. I still don't really have automatic focusing dialed in, at least not with the user profile for this configuration. It worked once, then failed a couple of times so I shut it off and focused on my own. Did a successful automated meridian flip and continued imaging until the sky got too bright. This image is dramatically better than my previous best of this object.

Date: 30-31 May 2016

Subject: M101, Pinwheel Galaxy

Scope: AT8IN

Filter: Baader Planetarium Fringe Killer (UV-IR cut)

Mount: EQ-6 (EQMOD)+PEC

Guiding: Orion ST-80 + Antares 0.5x focal reducer + DSI Ic + PHD 2.6.1.1 (Win 7 ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc, no chiller CCD 11 °C

Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro 2.5.1.14 with Nebulosity 4.0.4 ASCOM camera driver

Exposure: 35x600 s

Stacking: Neb 4, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, match histograms, trans+rot align, Neb 4 40-60%tile stack.

Processing: StarTools 1.4.316: Crop; Wipe; Develop: 81.61%; HDRptimize; Color:Scientific, 275% saturation; Deconvolute: 2.5 pix; Sharpen; Track: Smoothness 87%, 4.5 pix; Magic, shrink 1 pix. Photoshop CS6 + Astronomy Tools: Deep space noise reduction; Levels; lncrease star color; Unsharp mask with layer mask to enhance dust lanes; Less crunchy more fuzzy; Astroframe.

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M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, OSC, 31 May 2016, David Dearden