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M51 and 7 sisters from last nights clear skys

Quatermass

By Quatermass
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Enjoyed clear skies in Suffolk last night and despite a still fairly bright moon had some fun taking images of these two popular targets. I am beginning to understand the limits of my set up much better now but have really enjoyed the journey.

7 Sisters

7%252520sister%252520master.jpg?gl=GB

M51

M51%252520master.jpg

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Cheers guys, lets hope we get another clear night tonight. Your right Spiky about the sky being clear when the moon is out and cloudy when its goes away. I used to love looking at the moon, I still do, but when you want to do some imaging it tends to spoil your fun a bit.

M51 is such a cool galaxy I wish I could afford a better telescope and a ccd camera sigh. Oh well we make do with what we have I guess. This hobby is terrible for creating the urge to spend more dosh isn't it :icon_scratch: I really want to have a go at the leo triplets but the moon is right next to them at the moment so will have to wait for a better night. I remember imaging Saturn last 2 years ago and getting up at 5am to do it only to get much better chance at 11am early the next year. Sometimes you just have to do these things to get that thrill. Addicted.. help

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Spikey

Spikey

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I'm in the same boat QM, I want to bag M66 with the 1000D before I experiment with the Atik16 but it was just to the left of the moon last night so a complete non-starter. Looks like tonight will be a lot less hazy so not sure what to go for !

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Thinking about this imaging lark its a bit like fishing in some ways. When I go fishing at night the river is a mystery to me I have no idea what is down there at any time it might be a monster fish for all I know or it could be the usual species. There is only one way to find out and that is to choose your rod of choice bait and cast out. Sooner or later the rod tip flys round and your hooked on a fish but its not until its landed that you get to have your prize. This is very much like going out there in the vast unknown of space with my telescope and fishing around for galaxy's and nebula etc. Catching on my camera and then putting it in my Photoshop net and seeing what I have caught. And just like fishing I always crave a new fishing rod or bit of tackle to help me catch more. And its just as cold being stuck outside for hours :icon_scratch:

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Spikey

Spikey

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Just set up down the garden and past the tree that usually blocks my view of Ursa major. All the cables are stretched a bit but I'm sitting in a warm dining room with one cable running everything from in here :icon_scratch:

I was going to add more data to M81/M82 but time for a change.

I reckon it's going to have to be M101 if I finally manage to even get it to display on a sub so I can frame the thing. Meridian flip incoming as well !

5 mins later..................... gave up with M101 because I still can't see it on a 2 min sub, it's not out of the LP murk for me yet. Back to gathering a couple more hours on M81/M82.

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Chris

Chris

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Hey Quatermass you've done a good job their, nice bit of nebulosity on the Pleiades and the diffraction spikes suit it really well :icon_scratch: Stunning M51 as well, I can't wait to have a go at M51, going to try and get some more data for M101 first, got 67x15secs so far, not working tomorrow so if its clear later I'm going to try and fit a bit in between night feeds with our 8 week old boy :D

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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cheers Chris cant wait to have another go at it on a really dark night as the plough is coming up on the right side of my garden now away from the light pollution plus the street lights are all off after 12 as well. Still waiting for the clouds to pass at the moment but the forecast is looking good for the next couple of days so fingers crossed. All my kids have grown up now but they comment on my pictures on face book instead lol

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Stu

Stu

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I know what you mean Quatermass, but I'm a purely visual observer and there is something very nice ( to me) about images that look not so far removed to what you might see under fabulous skies with a big scope. Never seen M51 in anything like this detail but love your image.

Stu

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Well I was hoping to have a go at M1 again managed 10 good subs then the clouds rolled in again going to call it a night and wait for a better evening. Got myself thinking about the whole laptop guiding business but Im not going down that route and tonight is the reason why get it all set up and the clouds roll in again. Mybe if I had a shed observatory I would but with all the trees around me its not going to happen. Oh well cup of hot choc and bed.

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stan26

stan26

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i wear a big heavy fishermans thermal outfit and thermal boots to keep warm 30 years of night fishing is good practise :D

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

Ditto QM, my floatation suit comes in very handy for this winter astro lark (when Im not 4miles off felixstowe)

Great shots BTW, As Chris said the diffraction spikes look great on the M45, if I had the option id always reach for a newt when imaging this target. I did the old fishing line over the dew shield trick a short while ago to get the diffraction effect with my little achro on M45, It came out really well actually but never posted it on here. I found M51 can be a little tricky to find, and its not a very big target either so quite hard to pull out a lot of detail and get a decent crop, but that said you have done a grand job there so well done!

Stan :)

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Cheers Stan those floatation suits are mega warm I wore one when I took my speed boat licence with the Broad Authority, 3 unpleasant days at sea just outside Lowestoft bobbing up and down feeling horribly sea sick. M51 was a tricky one to find again even though I have seen it several times now. I tend to take a quick 15 second shot on a high ISO then see if its on the image if not move around again until I spot it then adjust my axis till its in the middle, format my card and start taking my subs. That was about 40 subs iso 800 10 at 60 seconds 10 at 1minute 20 seconds and 10 at 2minutes then another 10 at 2minutes and 25 seconds with a few at 2 minutes 40 seconds. I find after its been running awhile I don't get trailing so long as there's no wind about. But when I get my guider set up the sky's the limit, cant wait. The caravan is now up for sale buy the way.

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