IC342 and M51

[Dave_D]

Managed to get a good session last night 

M51

40 Minutes of 120 second subs.

And my ongoing project, IC342 in Camelopardalis. This is a very large, but very faint galaxy seen through the dust and obscuring material of the spiral arms of our own galaxy. If IC342 was away from the galactic plane it would easily be one of the brightest galaxies. Exposure time so far is about 3 hours (over 2 nights) but i plan on at least another 2-3 hours when the weather permits.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Very Nice! IC 342 is coming along nicely. The region around the core is already starting to show some detail.

[Dave_D]

Very Nice! IC 342 is coming along nicely. The region around the core is already starting to show some detail.

I seem to have started to pick up the HII regions in the spiral arms too... when i was processing, i wapped up the red content and they were clearly visible. Just wish i could get to a dark sky as local LP is limiting my subs to 2-2.5 minutes.

[Tinker1947]

There nice images, something i will aim to do when i get a second scope to use for viewing....

[sologuitarist61]

Fantastic images - well done!

[dazza1639]

M51 is great Dave!

Darren

@SalAstroSoc & @astronut1639

www.salfordastro.org.uk

[Dave_D]

M51 is great Dave!

Darren

@SalAstroSoc & @astronut1639

www.salfordastro.org.uk

Thanks Darren, still having slight issues with guiding though. i think i may be getting a small amount of flexure as the graph trace appeared fairly flat. i think it's a combination of this finderguider being mounted on standard 'standoff' plus the lightweight tube that OO use. the entire finderguider moves when i apply pressure to the side of the guider.... NOT GOOD!

i'm really not too happy with this attachment as not only is the engineering of the dovetail very poor, but the seat is equally poor. I've been trying to come up with some sort of low profile fitting but i think i may just end up getting something like this: 

exact alignment with the main optical past hasn't been an issue so far, but adding more weight to this setup is a huge no-no.

hopefully, i'll have IC342 finished by the time i pop down to the society meet 

[dazza1639]

Did you see that you got picture of the month again this month for your M51

Darren

@SalAstroSoc & @astronut1639

www.salfordastro.org.uk

[Dave_D]

Did you see that you got picture of the month again this month for your M51

Darren

@SalAstroSoc & @astronut1639

www.salfordastro.org.uk

hehe no i didn't... better start poking the other members to get imaging 

it's beginners luck y'know... only started imaging mid november last year, but i'm still dreaming of a 12" Ritchie Chretien though 

[Dave_D]

and so the ongoing saga continues... another 60 minutes of subs making a bit short of 4 hours so far.

[sologuitarist61]

Excellent images!