M101 the 'Pinwheel Galaxy'

[centroid]

The sky was clear all yesterday evening over Suffolk, although the 'seeing' wasn't at all good, and there was a lot of moisture in the air. So much so, that by the time I'd finished imaging, things were 'dripping wet'.

So, I was pleasantly surprised that the resulting image turned out as well as it did. Certainly better that I'd expected

With 88mm of spacing (extension tubes) between the 6.3 Focal Reducer and the CCD, the focal ratio was around f/7.

12" LX200R + 6.3 FR. SXVF-H9C and 10x600sec subs.

Dave

[Naz]

That's a good capture there Dave, inspite of the wet conditions. Plenty of detail and colour, you must be pleased.

naz

[barkis]

Gawd Almighty Dave, that is exquisite.

Nuff said I think.

Ron.

[SteelRat]

Oooh that's REALLY nice 8)

Cheers

Matthew(SR)

[MikeD]

WOW, very nice colour and dust lane detail.

I know what you mean about the conditions last night, a shame as it was nice and still and guiding was nice and smooth.

Great result.

Mike.

[jgs001]

Wow, that's very nice indeed.

[bazza]

A beauty Dave.

As Mike said, some cracking detail in those dust lanes.

Will you be adding some more data to this one Dave? I reckon if you did, it could turn out to be your best image yet.

Barry.

[moondog]

Excellent capture Dave - a great M101. You did well with last night's skies.

8)

MD

[George]

Nice image Dave:) M101 is on my DSLR list TODO's

[saturn5]

Another superb image.

[CELESCOPE]

Gordon Bennet , thats a cracker Dave , really nice capture that , no wonder you are pleased,think i will blow the clouds over to you cus i cant get any clear skies Grrrrrrr

SUPER STUFF DAVE

[markcol]

Superb image Dave, isn't it nice when something turns out better than expected- just for once!

Mark

[Sam]

That's a beautiful image - The colours in the spiral arms are amazing! It's incredible that so much detail can be captured from something thats 27,000,000 light years away! well done Dave, you must be very pleased.

[centroid]

Thanks for your kind comments guys.

I guess there's a moral in the story that says "the 'seeing' doesn't look so good, but give it a try anyway".

I was indeed surprised when the final image appeared from the 'stack', as imaging at f/7 with the 12" really isn't that forgiving if the sky isn't that good, due to the relatively high mag generated by such a long focal length scope, being over 2000mm at f/7.

Dave

[RobH]

Great work and excellent detail Dave

Cheers

Rob

[thing]

Superb shot, I've had a go at the pinwheel and yours is er.......about 30,000 times better.

[steppenwolf]

You should be very pleased with that one, Dave - I certainly would be.

[Beyond_Vision]

A superb capture Dave lovely colour and detail. One super dooper Catherine Wheel you have got there.

Regards

Kevin

[zhgutas]

Really impressive.. A sharp looking, nicely coloured picture.

marius

[MartinB]

Well done Dave. Loads of detail in that one and nice colour. Cracking image