M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB (Arvind H.)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn) · Contains: IC 4263 · IC 4278 · M 51 · NGC 5169 · NGC 5194 · NGC 5195 · NGC 5198 · Whirlpool galaxy

Powered byPixInsight

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

Powered byPixInsight

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

I've always been fascinated by this interacting pair of galaxies at the eyepiece of my Dob. They're usually one of my first observing targets during galaxy season. I'm pleased to have finally been able to image the pair— and a host of other Ursa Major galaxies seen in the background.

Given the face on orientation I was tempted to add Ha data even though imaging with a DSLR. I captured Ha from my Bortle 7/8 backyard on a couple of warm nights resulting in less than great data which I have nevertheless attempted to use.

This is my first attempt at using Bayer drizzle for OSC images in PI. I like the result but unsure if it is a material improvement in resolution over the usual approach. I will upload a version using the traditional debayering-before-integration-method for comparison as well.

Feedback welcome. Thanks for looking and Clear Skies!

Original
B
F
G
Final
H

B

Description: cropped to have more of the subject galaxies in the frame

Uploaded: ...

F

Description: Mild color + star improvement

Uploaded: ...

G

Description: Up close and personal

Uploaded: ...

H

Description: And this is without Bayer drizzle i.e. integrating using debayered subs. Which one do you like?

Uploaded: ...

The OSC Club (One Shot Camera)
The refractors!
Cloudy Nights
SF Bay Area Imagers
DSLR/Mirrorless Imagers from the World

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.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	2896687
PixInsight job	TGZ0HX53K49CKLJUFPNNG9J4Z5A67PGG
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	13h29m51s.31
RA (top/left)	13h31m44s.43
RA (top/right)	13h31m47s.82
RA (bottom/right)	13h27m55s.81
RA (bottom/left)	13h27m57s.21

Dec (center)	+47°12′24″.4
Dec (top/left)	+46°38′53″.0
Dec (top/right)	+47°45′42″.5
Dec (bottom/right)	+47°45′48″.4
Dec (bottom/left)	+46°38′59″.9

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

Equipment

Acquisition details

Description

Comments

Revisions

B

F

G

H

Sky plot

Histogram

In these public groups

		...
You have no new notifications.

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

M51: Whirlpool galaxy and companion HaRGB

Equipment

Acquisition details

Description

Comments

Revisions

B

F

G

H

Sky plot

Histogram

In these public groups

Notifications

AstroBin is in READ ONLY mode

Sorry :-(

Sorry :-(

Sorry :-(

Are you really sure?

Warning!

Warning!

Are you sure?

Report abuse

Slideshow settings

IOTD/TP stats (last [x] days)

Distribution of astrophotographers

Distribution of subject types

Distribution of data sources

Sorry

Sorry

Share

Upload new revision

Upload uncompressed source (XISF/FITS/PSD/TIFF)

Delete image and all its revisions?

Delete original image?

Delete all other versions?

Delete all revisions?

Delete this revision?

Delete this revision?

Delete this revision?

Delete this revision?

IOTD/TP stats

The following people like this image

The following people bookmarked this image

Warning

Flag malfunctioning thumbnails

Contains

Remove yourself as a collaborator

Plate-solving information