Cigar Galaxy - M82

[Tim]

Another from the archives, don't think I ever posted this one here. Taken at the time of the last supernova (SN2014J) which is visible in the picture.

C11 edge at f7, with Atik 460 OSC camera, plus several hours of accumulated Ha data gathered through various scopes. I have tried very long (3 hour) Ha exposures on M82, just to see how much of the ejecta can be reasonable captured from a light polluted city. Not certain 3 hours made much difference over 90 minute exposures.

Edit: Just check, Have posted this before, as a small preview awaiting finishing....hmm, I need faster turn around, 2 years is a bit silly

[John]

Great image Tim

I observed M82 lots of times when the SN was present - as well as being one of the best SN's for sometime it gave me a reason to observe this very interesting galaxy at reasonably high power which reveals all sorts of detail that lower magnifications don't show. Nothing as wonderful as your image though !

 

 

[Tim]

Thanks John, it's one of my favourites in the 18" too

[laudropb]

Very nice image of a fascinating object. Worth the 2 year wait.

[Sp@ce_d]

Blimey, you know how to pull 'em out of that hat! Three hour exposures!! No wonder it's taken you 2 years to post. It must be that long since the sky was clear for that length of time

[Daniel-K]

loving that FL TIM. I'm aiming to get a RC6 I want to image at its native F9 just so the galaxy fills the entire chip. 

I know it's a little slow but when reduced I feel there's too much sky.

 

M81 and M82 two of my favourites. got any more hidden gems?

[ollypenrice]

Very attractive resolution and impeccably clean processing.  A polished performance.

A C11 at F7 seems, on paper, to tick quite a few boxes. I wonder how you feel about it?

Olly

[swag72]

That's great Tim - The processing is spot on of some excellent data

[Tim]

5 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Very attractive resolution and impeccably clean processing.  A polished performance.

A C11 at F7 seems, on paper, to tick quite a few boxes. I wonder how you feel about it?

Olly

If I could only have one telescope Olly, it would be the C11 Edge. Probably. At some point I may get a Hyperstar lens for it, not sure my skies warrant that at the moment though, there is a three year road building project 1 mile away, with massive temporary office site, lights glaring up the whole time, and several new industrial units for parcel services that seem to require daylight conditions 24h a day. Unless transparency is exceptional, imaging from home in anything but narrowband is just frustrating.

As it is, I have the choice between the C11 and the 150 Esprit, and I do so like pinpoint stars   I have tried using the Esprit at a similar focal length, but you get down to f18 or so, and even the Televue Powermates are not ideal for long exposure DSO photography. My favourite targets have changed from the pretty, to the intriguing, and long FL is ideal for a lot of them.

Add in that I have become irresponsible and taken quite a shine to observing, and the picture clouds a little more. Now, if I could get the 18" dob onto the mount, that could be interesting!

Cheers

Tim