These galaxies are always pretty easy to find, and tonight was no exception; just put the Telrad at the midpoint of the line between Denebola and Vindemiatrix, and with this wide-field setup something will be in the field of view. I started this image much too late and so did not get enough data for it to look like it should, but I'm intrigued with trying to capture a good chunk of Markarian's Chain. This shot is challenging to frame so as to include as many galaxies as possible. No guiding issues at this scale with this light scope, but the trees and the Spanish Fork light pollution played havoc with the image. Chiller at 2.25 A, ~12 °C; we are approaching summer temperatures now.
Date: 7 Jun 2013 (just barely; most subs were on the 8th)
Subject: Markarian’s Chain
Scope: Orion ST80+Antares 0.5x telereducer
Filter: Baader Fringe Killer
Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors)
Guiding: 9x50 Finder/Guider + DSI Ic + PHD 1.14.2
Camera: DSI IIc (cooled at 2.25 A, 10.0 V, 12 °C)
Acquisition: Nebulosity 3.1.6
Exposure: 17 x 300 s
Stacking: Neb 3, bad pixel map, bias included, normalize first, trans+rot align, 1.5 SD stack.
Processing: StarTools 1.3 Crop; Wipe:Color & Brightness; Develop 76.88%; Contrast; HDR
ptimize; Track; Color:Bottom 2.0, Top Full, Sat 600%; Magic:Shrink 1 pix (twice); Denoise; Life:Heavy. CS6+Astronomy Tools increase star color; deep space, space NR; AstroFrame.
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