M51/M33 with the moon up

[abodee2]

Hi,

Planning to image M33 and/or M51 tomorrow night as the forecast looks better than I've ever seen it. Only problem - the moon's up at 67% and sets roughly just before 2am.

Will either of these two be washed out by the moon? We don't get very many clear nights here in the 'deen and I would really like to have a hack at something else other than M31, M45, M42 and M27 which i've done and really pleased with the results 

The reason I've picked M51 and/or M33 is because i've seen really decent results unguided + unmodded which is what i'll be running. With good PA I've been pushing 2m15s subs without trailing most nights. I'm open to any other suggestions for suitable DSO's that could come out nicely with what I'll be running.

Thanks for helping me!

Ali

[pipnina]

Hi,

Planning to image M33 and/or M51 tomorrow night as the forecast looks better than I've ever seen it. Only problem - the moon's up at 67% and sets roughly just before 2am.

Will either of these two be washed out by the moon? We don't get very many clear nights here in the 'deen and I would really like to have a hack at something else other than M31, M45, M42 and M27 which i've done and really pleased with the results 

The reason I've picked M51 and/or M33 is because i've seen really decent results unguided + unmodded which is what i'll be running. With good PA I've been pushing 2m15s subs without trailing most nights. I'm open to any other suggestions for suitable DSO's that could come out nicely with what I'll be running.

Thanks for helping me!

Ali

What's your FOV? If there's a degree or more of emptyness around the object then it's 100% possible, you'll just have limited sub length.

I managed to get M31 really easily with just a DSLR and a tripod during a full moon! You just need to know how to remove gradients effectively (duplicate the image's layer, use clone to remove bright stars and any nebulosity from the image, blur, reduce brightness by a tiny tiny bit using curves, blur and blend using subtraction)

It won't be as good as under moonless skies... But it's way better than naut and could be used as practice

    ~pip

[pipnina]

My first attempt: http://i.imgur.com/SJZlh9X.png

I did a second attempt that turned out far better, but that's a good example.

[abodee2]

What's your FOV? If there's a degree or more of emptyness around the object then it's 100% possible, you'll just have limited sub length.

I managed to get M31 really easily with just a DSLR and a tripod during a full moon! You just need to know how to remove gradients effectively (duplicate the image's layer, use clone to remove bright stars and any nebulosity from the image, blur, reduce brightness by a tiny tiny bit using curves, blur and blend using subtraction)

It won't be as good as under moonless skies... But it's way better than naut and could be used as practice

    ~pip

Hi Pip,

My FOV is 1.7° x 1.14° with the scope + 50D

That's promising then! Come to think of it I've actually managed M27 when the moon was about 85% behind the tree's mostly, it's the image on my astrobin. It's just i know M33 is quite a faint object so i'm not sure how that would go with the moon in plain sight. However, since M51 is at the opposite of of the sky, do you think this will have an impact on how well it comes out? in terms of brightness I believe M51 is a lot more bright than M33. 

Ali

[pipnina]

Hi Pip,

My FOV is 1.7° x 1.14° with the scope + 50D

That's promising then! Come to think of it I've actually managed M27 when the moon was about 85% behind the tree's mostly, it's the image on my astrobin. It's just i know M33 is quite a faint object so i'm not sure how that would go with the moon in plain sight. However, since M51 is at the opposite of of the sky, do you think this will have an impact on how well it comes out? in terms of brightness I believe M51 is a lot more bright than M33. 

Ali

I haven't tried M33 or M51... But let's just say I managed M31 and (someone claimed although i wasn't convined) hints of the Heart neb in only 8 mins... Give it an hour or two and I'd say you got just about any of the messier galaxies nailed.