M31, 2hr 30min with a mix of 30s & 300s subs (Holly)

M31, 2hr 30min with a mix of 30s & 300s subs

Celestron CG5
Altair Starwave Ascent 80ED
StellaMira 0.8x Reducer / Flattener
Altair Hypercam 183c ( fan cooled )
SVbony UV / IR Cut Filter 1.25"

SV305 Guide Camera
ST80 Guide Scope

All controlled from a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop using APT and PHD2.
IOptron iPolar used to get a quick and accurate polar alignment.

I much prefer the dirty / dusty look when it comes to M31, the more muted golden brown looks more honest to what the human eye would also see given absolutely ideal conditions.
Stars aren't great, I think I killed a lot of potential colour by overdoing stretching there; otherwise pretty happy with the result.
I may or may not add to this data since the galaxy is still in the darkest third of my sky, potentially until interesting targets in Taurus become doable - I am interested in shooting M1, but may go for a standard 1x Flattener in that case.
NoiseXterminator by RC-Astro is a ridiculously powerful tool on a side note! Likely will be buying the full version when my next clear skies and good data comes to me.

LGBTQIA+ Astrophotographers

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

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