Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  NGC 3031
M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy, PrairieSkiesAstro
M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy
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M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy

M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy, PrairieSkiesAstro
M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy

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Everyone agrees that more integration time is better right? WRONG! Or at least only 1/2 right lol. I decided to do a little experiment with M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy in Ursa Major back at the beginning of March. Me, my dad, and my son once again had the pleasure of being guests at the Farrell Ranch in Meridian, TX. As many of you recall it is an astronomer's paradise boasting Bortle 2/3 skies and some good old southern hospitality Thankfully the skies cleared up on our second night, allowing my dad and I to get almost 4 hours of data on this beautiful grand design spiral galaxy. We had to head home on Sunday but (miraculously) the skies were due to be completely clear that evening in Houston as well! So I decided to add 2 additional hours of data to the 4 I had acquired at the ranch. I knew that my location in Houston was a Bortle 8 but more data is always better right?

I admit I was a bit skeptical so I decided to process two sets of data: one with only the data I acquired at the ranch and one with all of the data I had acquired. I got to the end of my linear processing regiment and stepped back and all I could say was "dang... the one which included only the data from the ranch is WAY better." While the version with all of the data did have a little better detail at the core (I'm talking miniscule difference lol) the outer regions of the galaxy were obscured by noise which I can only imagine I introduced with the data from Houston. It was tough but I had to throw out the 2 Houston hours... [sigh] lol. I propose modifying the saying to "more integration time is always better, assuming similar imaging conditions." I'm curious as to any experience you might have with dark skies vs integration time?

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M81 (NGC3031) Bode's Galaxy, PrairieSkiesAstro