M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, 23 Mar 2014 (David Dearden)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn) · Contains: IC 4277 · IC 4278 · M 51 · NGC 5194 · NGC 5195 · Whirlpool Galaxy

M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, 23 Mar 2014, David Dearden

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M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, 23 Mar 2014

Conditions were exceptionally clear, so even though I was sleepy I couldn't pass up the chance to image my favorite target once again. There was a bit of gusty wind so I threw out about 1/3 to 1/2 of my subframes. I imaged up to the meridian, then used the PicGoto again to reacquire the target after the meridian flip. This is so much easier than doing it "by hand!" After the meridian flip, I went to bed and let the camera run until daylight. I like the way the tidal streams show up in this image.

Date: 22 Mar 2014

Subject: M51, Whirlpool Galaxy

Scope: AT8IN + HPS Coma Corrector

Filter: None

Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors+PicGoto Simplificado)

Guiding: 9x50 Finder/Guider + DSI Ic + PHD 2.2.2 (Win ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc (no chiller, T = 3 °C)

Acquisition: Nebulosity 3.2.0, no dither

Exposure: 23x480 s

Stacking: Neb 3, bad pixel map, bias included, normalize first, trans+rot align, 1.5 SD stack.

Processing: StarTools 1.3.5.279 Crop; Wipe 80%; Develop 87.49%; Contrast; HDR:optimize; Sharpen; Deconvolute 3.0; Color:Scientific 301%; Life:Isolate; HDR:Equalize; Track:Read Noise 7.6%; Magic:shrink 1 pix. CS6 Astronomy Tools increase star color; space noise reduction; AstroFrame

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Status	Basic success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6841998
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
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