almost the last chance of the year for a good m51

[adamphillips]

it was just a day or two after the new moon and m51 is getting lower and lower. so I had to give it a go even though I didn't get out to a dark sky just my backyard in sacramento.

edge 11hd on CGEM DX mount unguided.

canon 5d mark ii (unmodded)

59x80sec lights

60x80sec darks.

[Coco]

Nice capture, that focal length is punishing!!   

[x6gas]

Unguided?  At 2.8m focal length?  For 80 seconds?

Never, ever let that mount go.  That is so much better than I ever achieved unguided with mine which showed trailing after half that exposure time.  Get an off-axis guider and I think that mount will last you a lifetime.  Seriously, you have a good one there.

Great image.  More exposures or, better still guided longer exposures will allow you to do some sharpening of the galaxy and you'll be amazed at the results (you can achieve the M51 on this page with your kit, and probably better with your mount).

Take flats, though.  I resisted for too long and (a) they are not as difficult as you may think, and ( they will transform your images.

Great work, Ian

[x6gas]

Adam, I've looked again and my previous comments were not appropriate.

Not great.  Unguided, this image is outstanding.

(but seriously, flats...)

[adamphillips]

i guess I should look into flats a little bit more, im currently in the putting it off phase, but ive also heard the exposure time doesn't have to be long and people get them done in like a minute, any advice or reading material on flats?

also I really do want an OAG and an auto guider, I will get that too, I think ive settled on the QHY5 just because its also a decent planetary imager I just hope it works ok with an OAG in my not so dark skies. but I really want to take some 5 min, 10 min exposures.

[adamphillips]

and thanks for the comments, I do love the performance of my mount, I sprung a few extra hundred dollars for the DX. some say the actual mount is exactly the same but I don't know.