Hello friends!
M81 in Ha - first light for my 2600mm camera.
I spent a couple of cloudy nights in late March gearing up for the new season eg, when it isn't -20*C.
To do this, I collimated my C8 edge (platesolved to ~2100 mm fl) and played with the backspacing (133 mm) and so this image was shot at ~f10.
I was excited to try imaging from my backyard, which is Bortle 7-8 - quite severe light pollution. As my pixel scale is rather unforgiving with this rig and camera, I was hoping to be able to do a good job with guiding.
Finally, this is the first light for my new camera - a 2600mm. The rig was guided by my very ancient C80 doublet refractor (F11.4 @ 910mm focal length) - first light as well for this massive guide scope.
This is my result (4.25 hours integration). I stacked in APP and then processed in PI, labelled it in Photoshop. I was pleased with the performance of the Antila filter and the camera, to reach this DSO through the murk.
Thanks for looking. All comments welcome.
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Details of session:
- Moon phase: ~ full
- Temp: -8*C
- Accessories: ASIair pro, TPlink wifi booster (controlled rig from inside the house), Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Micro (dew and power distribution).
- Guiding: .25 - .50 RMS (variable)
- Unbinned, camera gain @ 100, sensor cooled to -10*C
- 35 flats, 30 darks in stack, initial stretch saved in APP
- main processing workflow in PI
- One meridian flip
- Star collimation prior to run (collimated the focuser and scope with Hotech previously)
Thank you for looking!
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M81
Messier 81 (also known as
NGC 3031 or
Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design galaxy about at 12 mly away in the Big Bear. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular target for lots of AP folks including me. In late February 2022, astronomers reported that M81 may be the source of
FRB 20200120E, a repeating
fast radio burst.
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