M81 - 2/6/24 (Ed Dixon)

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

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M81 - 2/6/24

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M81 - 2/6/24

After some chat with a fellow astro club member about his successful use of the ZWO ASIAIR+ red box, I decided to try it again. I had done little with it in the past and had not figured out how to do the basic things like autofocus and framing. I spent about 3 hours or so with it on 2/6/24 here at home. It took an hour or so just to figure out how to get autofocus working, guiding, and the other basics. For this test I used my Celestron C6N which is a 750mm focal length scope I have used little before. This was done with my iOptron HEM27 mount. I used an older ZWO ASI485MC uncooled camera, since the wiring for that combo is simpler than the ASI2600MC.

I used my iPad to run the ASIAIR from inside my dining room. Using WiFi is many times slower than a direct wired miniPC, but it works. The setup time is quicker with this combo and there are fewer wires involved. One interesting comparison is autofocus on the ASIAIR compared to the SeeStar scope. The SeeStar is many times faster in that area.

I ended up collecting a few 2 minute exposures of M81 before it got too late. Today I downloaded all the files (had to remember how to do that again) from the ASIAIR and worked on them with Pixinsight. This is the result that came out the other end.

When I get another clear night I want to repeat this, perhaps from the parkway, and use the better camera.

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	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
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Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
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Star trails
Northern lights
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Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
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Status	Basic success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	9183405
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

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M81 - 2/6/24

M81 - 2/6/24

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M81 - 2/6/24

M81 - 2/6/24

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