Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4263  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  NGC 5198  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Friends, GW
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Friends

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Friends, GW
Powered byPixInsight

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Friends

Equipment

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Description

After nearly four months of rain and cloud this is my first image of 2021. Conditions were not great. Seeing was poor and high cloud prevailed. Light pollution was significant.

M51 proved to be a good target for both image capture and image processing practice. The IDAS LPS D2 Filter surpassed expectations. Eliminated most of the LED light pollution from the neighbours security lights and street lighting. This filter seems to be giving me better results than the Optolong L-Pro. I have to admit processing this image was fun and well rewarding.

The 180 seconds subs used was too long as the stars seem to be over-saturated. I will be using 120 seconds exposure in the next set of images. Tilt may also be present in my optical train as seen by the presences of asymmetrically positioned elongated stars.

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Friends, GW