M81/M82 & The Virgo Cluster

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Galaxy season isn't the friendliest time of year for us lens imagers but that doesn't mean there aren't some worthwhile targets at short focal lengths. Here's a couple images taken with my 200mm f2.8 L lens a few days ago, hope you like them. Used a couple step down rings on the front of the lens to take the aperture from 72mm to 58mm, so shot at about f3.4. Gives slightly better star shapes in the corners without introducing diffraction spikes.

M81, M82 and a few companions, with some hints of structure showing in the IFN. 68x90s unguided subs, so about 1h40m total exposure, with darks and flat applied.

The Virgo Cluster including Markarian's Chain. About 40 minutes total exposure for this one so the background is a little messy, I may be able to clean it up a bit more.

Haven't spent much time processing these so any suggestions would be welcome. Taken at Caradon Observatory, Cornwall.

[laudropb]

Very nice captures.

[Knighty2112]

Well done! A whole heap load of galaxies to drool over in these shots! Well done!  

[Paul M]

I'm no techie and wouldn't dream of fault finding these great images.

Like I said on another deepsky lense thread, these super wide angle galaxy cluster shots are mind blowing. I can't help getting lost in the scale of what we're looking at!

[wimvb]

Great image of M81/82. You definitely also caught Holmberg IX just below M81. Nicely done.

I like your technique for stopping down the lens.

[Paul M]

42 minutes ago, wimvb said:

...You definitely also caught Holmberg IX just below M81....

 

I believe you are right! Very difficult to make out on my laptop screen but it's just discernible.  Had to google a few images to help identify it's position relative to the field stars.

 

[Cozzy]

Great images I really those, have you tried to tease out a bit more of the IFN? or do you think you may loose some of the quality of the image? 

[kendg]

Very nicely done indeed.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice images indeed

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Thanks everyone, it's nice to be imaging again after a mostly weather-enforced gap.

45 minutes ago, Cozzy said:

Great images I really those, have you tried to tease out a bit more of the IFN? or do you think you may loose some of the quality of the image? 

I can bring it out a bit more but it is a bit of a compromise with the background, it's close to the noise floor. Not surprising as I'm only taking short unguided subs. Here's my latest attempt with a bit more processing time put in:

 

[ollypenrice]

IFN for sure. I compared it with one on which we spent well over twenty hours and you have it. That's good going.

Olly

[Knight of Clear Skies]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

IFN for sure. I compared it with one on which we spent well over twenty hours and you have it. That's good going.

Olly

Is this the one Olly? That's very nice indeed.

Inverting and stretching harder shows the structure more clearly. I've got the brighter patches but the fainter bits aren't in my data. Maybe just a suggestion of Arp's loop, that would make a good target for next year with guiding. Still, I'm very pleased with with the reprocessed version in my previous post.

Don't think I said in the post above, but the camera used for both images was a modded 100D.

[ollypenrice]

36 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Is this the one Olly? That's very nice indeed.

Inverting and stretching harder shows the structure more clearly. I've got the brighter patches but the fainter bits aren't in my data. Maybe just a suggestion of Arp's loop, that would make a good target for next year with guiding. Still, I'm very pleased with with the reprocessed version in my previous post.

Don't think I said in the post above, but the camera used for both images was a modded 100D.

Yes, that's the one. I did later pull a bit more out. Your negative makes absolutely no bones about it, though. The Flux Be With You!

Olly

[wimvb]

Incredible, for a DSLR on a budget mount and less than 2 hours of integration time. I think galaxy season IS turning out to be the friendliest time of year!

Even though you are working unguided, with a 200 mm lens you might be able to push the single exposure time to 2 - 3 minutes, if you can get the balance and polar alignment right.

Thanks for this inspiring post.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

Incredible, for a DSLR on a budget mount and less than 2 hours of integration time. I think galaxy season IS turning out to be the friendliest time of year!

Thanks, glad you like it. Btw, I used an old borrowed Vixen mount for this which I think is equivalent to an EQ-5. I have managed 90 seconds at 200mm before on my EQ3 but I'd have probably ended up throwing away more subs. Based on my disastrous Christmas imaging session, I suspect tripod flex is the biggest weakness of the EQ3.

Yes, that's the one. I did later pull a bit more out. Your negative makes absolutely no bones about it, though. The Flux Be With You!

Olly

Not in the medical sense I hope!