M81 Group (Phil Hoppes)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa) · Contains: Bode's Galaxy · Cigar Galaxy · HD85458 · HD85828 · HD86574 · M 81 · M 82 · NGC 3031 · NGC 3034 · NGC 3077

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M81 Group

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M81 Group

I've been continuously tweaking my Vixen setup to optimize its performance. I was using my ASI071MC camera with that telescope and it is just not the right camera as spot size of the Vixen is too small so the corners and about 15%-20% of the borders all had egg shaped stars. I've since switched to using the ASI294MC with the Vixen and that is much better. I already own the mono version of that camera that I use with my Redcat setup so switching between the two is also quite easy. The ASI071MC should work fine with my C14 so it all works out.

I shot M81 a few months ago with my Vixen and the other camera but I wanted to try again and this time also frame it such that I could capture M81, M82 and NGC3077 as they are all in the FOV of this setup. I went back with the new camera and used my Falcon rotator to better frame up the shot and I was able to catch this view. It came out nice. I do see, looking at the previous ASI071MC shot that the color response of the 071 is certainly better than the 294 but it is still quite acceptable. There is no perfect setup and this works quite well for what I would like to do for the present time. Down the road perhaps what I will probably do is change the function of my Vixen to more scientific work and probably pick up one of the newer WO Pleiades series like the new 111mm 7 element refractor. Given what I see from my Redcat 51 V2 OTA I suspect that would be a nice upgrade.

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	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
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Amateur hosting facility
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Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
PixInsight job	BHTKKTV0RL91TG13S6GUUR7ZXT34HL4D
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	09h57m34s.81
RA (top/left)	10h05m02s.34
RA (top/right)	09h59m25s.73
RA (bottom/right)	09h49m48s.46
RA (bottom/left)	09h55m51s.24

Dec (center)	+69°07′12″.8
Dec (top/left)	+68°40′21″.2
Dec (top/right)	+69°54′39″.7
Dec (bottom/right)	+69°32′49″.2
Dec (bottom/left)	+68°19′42″.0

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