My take on M31

[wimvb]

Taken on January 30.

Camera & settings:

Pentax K20D with 135 mm f/3.5 lens at f/5.6, ISO 1600 21 * 240 sec exposures, bias frames and flat frames (from the night before)

Mount: Skywatcher EQ3 Pro

Software: PixInsight

Usually the air is very dry during the winter, but not on this occasion. We'd had mild weather with lots of moisture in the air. In this case, I think it worked in my favour.

BTW, I didn't dither between frames, and I couldn't completely get rid of the streaks from hot pixels.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice result!

[wimvb]

Thanks, Michael.

[Starwiz]

Very nice.  

John

[Tzitzis]

Very nice! I love your starfield

[wimvb]

Thanks, John and Tzitzis.

[laudropb]

Very nice image. The star field makes a lovely setting.

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, laudropb said:

Very nice image. The star field makes a lovely setting.

Yes, i think so too. Without the haze it would be quite dull.

[MilwaukeeLion]

Great image, very dream like. 

[wimvb]

Thanks MilwaukeeLion

[LukeSkywatcher]

I agree. I like the star field around it and i like the way the haze has brought out the brighter stars. Its a very different take  on M31, but it works.

[LukeSkywatcher]

It kind of looks like M31 has taken a wander through M45.

[lux eterna]

Are these 240 sec subs unguided ? If so, what black magic are you using for polar alignment ? 

Very nice image, I like the softness.

[wimvb]

When using a short focal length, polar alignment becomes less critical. In this case I used the markers in the polar scope eyepiece for alignment. After doing a 3 star alignment on my Synscan I sometimes also do a polar alignment using the synscan routine. But that isn't really necessary for these "wide field" images.