M81 Wide Ha only

[Phillyo]

So after weeks of frustrations with my mount (as some of you will be aware) last night I managed to get 5 hours of Ha data of M81, M82 and some other smaller galaxies ready for combining with RGB data when the moon runs away again. First time I've ever images a galaxy other than the obligatory picture of M31 with my DSLR.

The important thing is star shape. Over the last few weeks with the mount throwing a wobbler, the stars have been very eggy across the image. Not so any more

Nothing exciting to really see here, interesting the amount of Ha data in these galaxies though!!

Just a very quick stretch and noise reduction done here.

Thanks,

Phil.

[swag72]

Looking good Phil - Is you r mount issue sorted now?

[Phillyo]

Thanks Sara, it looks to be? Going to head out again tonight hopefully to confirm. It seems like it was either the cable or the usb hub causing the problem? Fingers crossed that's all it was

[swag72]

Great news Phil - I always have spare cables now and a spare USB hub just incase! My old mount used to munch it's way through EQMOD cables at quite a rate!!!!

[Phillyo]

Yeah I have a spare now. I plugged direct into the laptop last night but next time out I'm going to try the same but through a new cable to see if that makes a difference. Other than a few little mistakes on my part, the guiding was incredible last night. I'd say less than +/- 2 arcseconds. Now, any idea where I can buy some nice dark skies from?

Phil

[Gazabone]

Looking very nice, great to see definition in the spiral arms.

[Phillyo]

I forgot to add, this is around 5 hours of data in 10 x 30min subs.