Broadband targets are always tricky in my Bortle 8 skies, but here it is mid-May, and M101 is soaring overhead--above the streetlights and beyond the reach of Washington DC's light dome. Who could resist such a tempting target? I could not, and I invested about 9.5 hours over 3 nights--more than any of my projects to date--in this Pinwheel Galaxy project.
I have to admit, I was surprised to see that a Messier object was so dim in my 60-second exposures at f/2, and I doubted whether the project would succeed. But I processed the first night's data and was delighted and encouraged by the range of colors that emerged (Revision A).
There were other challenges--some high clouds and a 70% illuminated moon interfered with the final night's proceedings. That night's data was not as clean I would have liked and was harder to process. (How ironic that the nature's own light pollution proved the most challenging.)
I was still able to obtain a pleasing result (Revisions B and C) that is leagues beyond my
first attempt (captured in less than an hour under much darker skies) last year.
A true Galaxy Season high point!
(Captured: C6, AVX, Hyperstar, ASI183MC Pro, Optolong L-Pro filter. Processed: AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator)
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