M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy (CVn) - The first steps on the journey to the stars (Wouter Cazaux)

M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy (CVn) - The first steps on the journey to the stars

Revision title: Orientation correction

*** Blast from the past ***

20210506 - It was 2 months into the learning curve, 1 week after receiving the RedCat - M51

What was the experience
It was only end Feb 2021 that I took my first ‘simple’ Astro-photo using a DSLR and a tripod, and since then I have driven down a long stretch of the yellow brick road of learning (guiding, processing, RedCat, ASI-camera). Early May, 2 months and 1 week into the ‘learning’, and only 1 week after finally having the RedCat as my ‘starter’ scope, I was trying out my first couple of galaxies. Resolution is a bit under par (2.39”/pixel with the RC51 & ASI462 combination), but all in all a decent result, I would say ....
Looking forward to capture this again with the new gear in the future 🤩

What’s in the picture(s)
M51 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Galaxy

How it was done
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro
Guiding: ASIAIR Pro, ZWO30F4, ASI120MM (RA guiding only)
Scope: WO RedCat 51
Camera: ASI462MC
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR L1
Date: 20210506
Moon: n/a, Bortle 5/6 SQM 19.60.
Photons: M51 - 73x 180s Gain 125, darks 5x
Processing: Siril, Adobe Photoshop (Mac)

What have I learned from this
These were my first try-outs with the RedCat, testing the limits of what was possible, imaging distant galaxies with only a 250mm scope (crazy idea 🙄)
Camera (non-cooled) was more suited for planetary, but I wanted to try this out anyway. Nebula season hadn’t started yet, and I was preparing/learning
Processing skills were still in their early stages
Progress goes in ‘small’ steps, but every step brings you forward 😉🤩

Clear Skies everybody! 🤩✨🔭

IG https://www.instagram.com/astrowaut/

Original
B
Final
C

B

Title: Whirlpool Galaxy (M51 - CVn) - Re-processing the first steps on my journey to the galaxies

Description: Whirlpool Galaxy (M51 - CVn) - Re-processing the first steps on my journey to the galaxies

A full re-process of my original RedCat51 / ASI462 data. Just 2 weeks into my journey to the galaxies with a small telescope, the redcat. I didn’t have a cooled camera yet at the time, tracking was on my small SkyGuider Pro. I knew this galaxy was a bit out of reach of the small redact, the low resolution of the ASI462 would not let me resolve the fine detail, but I just had to try.

My original version was somewhat limited by my processing sills at the time (using Siri). Given the improvements in my processing skills, I wanted to see what was really hidden in this data, processing this old data with PixInsight

This is a subset of 68frames out of the original mix

RC51, UVIR, ASI462MC
Photons: 68x 180s = 3h24
20210506
PixInsight

Comparing this to my latest image, with the C8 / ASI2600MC, this is just a glimpse of where I was heading, but it did help me on my journey.

Happy to hear your thoughts …

Uploaded: ...

C

Title: Orientation correction

Description: Although this image isn'y aligned to RA and Dec, like I'm doing on my later capturing (RA to X, Dec to Y), I've corrected for the overall orientation, to have Dec increasing upwards

Uploaded: ...

Cloudy Nights
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Deep sky
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Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	7587335
PixInsight job	LVV4HMS7UKV0P1P455U4JKK93ZWYO8B3
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	13h29m12s.88
RA (top/left)	13h31m58s.76
RA (top/right)	13h25m05s.56
RA (bottom/right)	13h26m30s.41
RA (bottom/left)	13h33m19s.76

Dec (center)	+47°10′54″.8
Dec (top/left)	+47°42′27″.1
Dec (top/right)	+47°15′02″.6
Dec (bottom/right)	+46°39′04″.7
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°06′08″.6

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