M31 - Andromeda Galaxy - last night with bright moon

[Gina]

With the moon not far off full and lighting everything up like a floodlight, I decided to point my scope away from it. So Andromeda got my attention. Far too much moonlight to get a good image though. Here's 20 lights of 2m exposure at ISO 800 and -2C plus 41 darks and 25 bias. I'll add flats later (if it's worth bothering). Stacked in DSS and processed in PS. Slightly cropped and resized for posting.

[Digz]

Some great detail showing on the dust lanes. Got some dust bunnies floating about as well, nothing a set of flats will sort out!

Great effort considering the moons current phase. MIght do well with a slight tweak on the white balance, but I have enjoyed viewing, thanks :-)

[Dan Watts]

Wow, really nice! I still haven't seen this site yet...in fact, I am yet to see any galaxies! Hard work :s

[Shibby]

You've got the makings of a very nice image there Gina, I think you definitely should get flats if it's not too late - not only because of the dust bunnies, but you'll find the galaxy much easier to process without the gradient. There's probably a lot more data hiding in there!

[farunj]

Wow!! That's awesome!!

[Gina]

Some great detail showing on the dust lanes. Got some dust bunnies floating about as well, nothing a set of flats will sort out!

Great effort considering the moons current phase. MIght do well with a slight tweak on the white balance, but I have enjoyed viewing, thanks :-)

Thank you

[Gina]

Wow, really nice! I still haven't seen this site yet...in fact, I am yet to see any galaxies! Hard work :s

Thank you You will have fun grabbing and processing lots of DSO images

[Gina]

You've got the makings of a very nice image there Gina, I think you definitely should get flats if it's not too late - not only because of the dust bunnies, but you'll find the galaxy much easier to process without the gradient. There's probably a lot more data hiding in there!

Thank you Yes, I've now taken a set of Flats and added them in - a definite improvement I'll post the resuly shortly.

[Gina]

Wow!! That's awesome!!

Thank you

[Gina]

Here is the result of taking and adding flats, re-stacking and processing.

[Dan Watts]

There is a real sense of depth in this photo, lovely!

In the future, I would love a more dedicated scope for astrophotography...I bet the sense of acheivement is amazing

[x6gas]

Here is the result of taking and adding flats, re-stacking and processing.

That's really great Gina - very good balance. So are you using a DSLR and if so how are you cooling the camera?

[alpal]

Not bad Gina - have another go at the next new moon.

[Gina]

That's really great Gina - very good balance. So are you using a DSLR and if so how are you cooling the camera?

Thank you Cooling is with a Peltier TEC with a cold finger to cool the image sensor. Water cooling with a water block on the hot side of the TEC takes the heat away to a radiator and fan.

[Gina]

Not bad Gina - have another go at the next new moon.

Thanks I shall do

[Jessun]

Wow, didn't those flats do the trick! Nice image there.

[BigBlueOne]

Given the moon was against you Gina, the reprocessing did the trick though lovely image.

[Gina]

Wow, didn't those flats do the trick! Nice image there.

Yes, I was amazed Thank you

[Gina]

Given the moon was against you Gina, the reprocessing did the trick though lovely image.

Thank you

[squeaky]

Too good for this pub

[Quatermass]

Very nice processing work Gina when the moon has gone home again you will get even better results, great job.

[Gina]

Very nice processing work Gina when the moon has gone home again you will get even better results, great job.

Thank you Mark I'm not going to try any more imaging until the moon has abated a bit. Working on equipment in the meantime.

[Quatermass]

I have rediscovered my great joy of making model airoplanes so when its cloudy I will be model making and when its clear astrophotography ;-) I have lots of hobbys fishing photography kite flying and cartoons gaming swimming art classes and loads more so come clouds or clear skies im busy. Also really looking forward to the rover landing on mars that will be very cool

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk 2

[Gina]

That's a great range of diverse hobbies Mark I used to make model aeroplanes when I was young - nothing very ambitious though. Balsa wood and tissue coated with varnish (I think it was) and powered by rubber bands or Jetex motor. I did some of the other things when I was young too. I've done a fair amount of water colour painting and had a dabble at barge painting (on plastic flower pots and horse shoes etc.) with the W.I. I've had a lifetime interest in photography (including doing my own developing and printing) and to a slightly lesser extent, in astronomy and all things astronomical - hardly missed an episode of "The Sky at Night" since it started - Patrick Moore is my hero Taken an interest in all space exploration including staying up very late to watch the first moon walk TV broadcast which coincided with my birthday. So yes, certainly interested in the mars rover landing - hoping all goes well

But not diversifying very much now when the weather is bad and/or there's a full moon - I'm working on my camera cooling and Arduino control. That's progressing steadily if rather slowly