Galaxy Quest! M51, NGC4565, NGC5907, M108, M81, M82

[Uranium235]

Well.... how blessed we have been since last Thursday?! Lots of clear sky and no moon, bloomin cold though. I managed to get out for a few nights despite a bit of a cold, there was a fair bit of data to get through but here is what I got from four nights imaging with the dual shooter.

M51:

22x600 L 314L+

16x600 RGB 1000d

I wasnt really happy with the colour on last years version, the DSLR colour data turned out to be a good match. Possibly needs a dash of Ha to bring out the fireworks.

NGC4565: Needle galaxy

22x600 L 314L+

14x600 RGB 1000d

One of my favorite edge-on spirals, a really nice target for the 314L+

NGC4631: Whale & Hockey stick

14x600 L 314L+

12x600 RGB 1000d

A very odd pair, I quite like the way the whale turned out:

NGC5907:

Having seen photos of this galaxy with its mysterious outer streams, I thought id have a go. Well, after three hours and not even a sniff of the dim stuff I decided to call a halt to it. It really needs a dark site to get that feature, getting the galaxy was easy enough though:

16x600 L 314L+

16x600 RGB 1000d

M108 + Owl Nebula:

Just about managed to squeeze both of these on the 314 chip. However, the Owl turned out a little greener than it would with CCD colour becuase the 1000d always seems to show OIII as green rather than teal/blue.

28x300 L 314L+

12x600 RGB 1000d

M81 + M82: Bodes nebulae

Thought Id start this one from scratch with all 600s subs rather than mix in the shorter stuff from previous years. Still a bit fuzzy I think, might need another process.

32x600 L 314L+

18x600 RGB 1000d

Thanks for looking!

Rob

[RikM]

Crikey Rob, you've been busy

I love the colours in NGC4565. I think that's my favourite

[Uranium235]

Cheers RIk

Stuff seems to pile up really quick with the dual shooter, but im still struggling with chromatic noise in places - which requires some aggressive background clipping on the colour layer.

Really, there should have been a Leo triplet in there too, but I fell asleep while it was still on the bodes.... whoops!

[ollypenrice]

A landslide! Really nice to see some new images in this dire european weather.

Olly

[nightvision]

Great stuff, now time to sleep!

[Digz]

Great set. M81 & M82 are my faves. I've hardly done any imaging for a year, I hope that changes soon.

[Uranium235]

A landslide! Really nice to see some new images in this dire european weather.

Olly

Cheers Olly! Ive got half an eye on the weather tonight as well, but I dont think I will be half as good as it has been over the past couple of nights. If I do get out, it will be just to take some calibration frames and maybe a quick nibble at a globular.

[Ibbo!]

a good haul there

[mgirdwood]

Very Nice mages, interesting that you are combining the canon/atik , given the other thread you kindly commented on of mine re the camera's (still undecided between the 383 and the 314 )

favourite would be M81/82

is your 1000d modded ?

Mark

[stellawolf]

Nice set of images well done liked M51 & the needle

[Uranium235]

Very Nice mages, interesting that you are combining the canon/atik , given the other thread you kindly commented on of mine re the camera's (still undecided between the 383 and the 314 )

favourite would be M81/82

is your 1000d modded ?

Mark

Yes Mark, its modded (all filters removed)

Tonight im experimenting with a custom white balance which I set during the daytime with the rather enjoyable sunshine and an A4 sheet of copier paper. The first CR2 file of the night seems to have a balanced histogram, which will make processing a little easier (and hopefully a bit less red).

[peter shah]

nice set of images

[Gina]

Some great images there - very nice

[andyo]

Great images the needle galaxy and M82 & M81 are my favourites