One big reason to move to the big CDK with a really big sensor was to get into more detailed galaxy data. This experiment seems to show the art of the possible - compared to the data I collected
last year on a SkyWatcher 120ED, this is so much more detailed and rewarding as you examine the different arms of the Pinwheel galaxy.
For example, zooming into NGC 5461 on the lower arm yields a lot of incredible color (this is a straight SPCC color match, very little editing post color correction):
And the same for NGC 5462 a little lower down:
Meanwhile, we see NGC 5451 bursting with color on the upper arm:
This detail and exciting and you can float around the arms for hours enjoying. Feel free to download the full resolution XISF and have a go!
For next year's pass, I'll make the following changes:
1) 60s LUM and 120s RGB
2) Add H-Alpha data (300s)
3) Collect a bit more time on target (this was about half the data I collected - threw a lot out due to tracking issues and poor seeing)
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