M31 Andromeda Galaxy

Date: 23 September 2013

Equipment: Skywatcher Explorer 150P, EQ3-2 with dual-axis motor drive, Skywatcher 0.9x Coma Corrector, Canon EOS 1100D

Exposure: 18 X 120s @ ISO100, 27 dark frames, 30 bias frames ,17 flat frames

Processing: Raw files (cr2) stacked with Deep Sky Stacker Beta, curves adjusted, background removed and colours tweaked with GIMP

Location: London, England

With a good polar alignment with polar scope and by balancing the mount properly, I found I could achieve 120s exposures without star trailing. Of course, on this mount the majority of exposures had to be thrown out due to vibrations or planes flying overhead.

This was my first successful image using the coma corrector. I noticed that exposures needed to be longer in order to get the same level of brightness as those without the corrector.