First go at M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

[meryck]

In my moderately light-polluted skies, I've been hunting for this galaxy for several nights in a row. Was starting to doubt I'd ever see it. Finally, guided by Stellarium (double-flipped so it matches what I see in the finderscope), I managed to find the right patch of sky. Absolutely no trace of the galaxy in either finderscope, or main scope, but in a 30 second exposure of the DSLR, I finally made out a fuzzy blob. Thrilling moment, I have to say! (I guess that's why we do what we do...). Sadly, I had to rush to get just 10 x 2 minute subs before the clouds came in, but I'm totally inspired and waiting for the next clear night to do a better job.

(Skywatcher 200P, EQ5 GoTo mount unguided, Canon 450D ISO 800, 10 x 2min subs,  8 x darks, no flats)

Seeing the spiral arms emerge in the longer subs was a first for me - I'm convinced with 32 subs (maybe pushing out to 3 minute exposures) - I'll get a lot more detail and colour. Any suggestions for my next session? The vignetting was something crazy, so I'm certainly taking flats next time.

[MARS1960]

Well done, great image for just 20mins.

I remember that thrilling feeling you speak of very well.

When i saw my first fuzzy on the LCD screen i whipped the camera off the scope and ran indoors screaming to the missus look at this, look what i just got .

It was indeed a most gratifying moment, hooked for life.

[RayD]

1 minute ago, MARS1960 said:

When i saw my first fuzzy on the LCD screen i whipped the camera off the scope and ran indoors screaming to the missus look at this, look what i just got .

It was indeed a most gratifying moment, hooked for life.

Likewise.

[ollypenrice]

I remember those first moments, too. An incredible experience.

Flats would be an enormous help to this poicture.

Olly

 

[meryck]

3 minutes ago, RayD said:

Likewise.

Haha, same here!  But of course, all I got from the wife was a 'that's nice dear!'...

[meryck]

4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I remember those first moments, too. An incredible experience.

Flats would be an enormous help to this poicture.

Olly

 

Yep, I know...  Should have taken them as soon as I came in, but wasn't expecting even half decent result at all from 10 subs. But there'll be a next time. That galaxy ain't going anywhere!

[RayD]

On 10/9/2016 at 15:28, meryck said:

Haha, same here!  But of course, all I got from the wife was a 'that's nice dear!'...

You're lucky to get that, if I recall correctly it was more..."what, that fuzzy thing, what is it?"

Bless her 

[Victor Boesen]

Hey congrats dude! awesome picture! where in denmark have you taken it and with which telescope and camera? (just want to know because i live in Denmark myself).

[meryck]

12 minutes ago, MARS1960 said:

Well done, great image for just 20mins.

I remember that thrilling feeling you speak of very well.

When i saw my first fuzzy on the LCD screen i whipped the camera off the scope and ran indoors screaming to the missus look at this, look what i just got .

It was indeed a most gratifying moment, hooked for life.

Thanks! It's really some feeling. Those moments when the patience pays off are quite special. A galaxy, a spiral galaxy... The. Universe. Is. Simply. Awesome.

[meryck]

3 minutes ago, Bossen said:

Hey congrats dude! awesome picture! where in denmark have you taken it and with which telescope and camera? (just want to know because i live in Denmark myself).

Hi Bossen! Thanks for the comment! Scope and camera specs:  (Skywatcher 200P, EQ5 GoTo mount unguided, Canon 450D ISO 800, 10 x 2min subs,  8 x darks, no flats

I live in Hørsholm, a bit out of the town. So light pollution isn't too bad high in the sky. But these galaxies are quite close to the horizon at the moment, which makes things a bit harder. Where do you live?

[Victor Boesen]

1 minute ago, meryck said:

Hi Bossen! Thanks for the comment! Scope and camera specs:  (Skywatcher 200P, EQ5 GoTo mount unguided, Canon 450D ISO 800, 10 x 2min subs,  8 x darks, no flats

I live in Hørsholm, a bit out of the town. So light pollution isn't too bad high in the sky. But these galaxies are quite close to the horizon at the moment, which makes things a bit harder. Where do you live?

ups sorry, didn't notice the scope and camera specs underneath the picture.I live in frederiksberg. can't see the milky way, and neither the andromeda galaxy with the naked eye.

[meryck]

Just now, Bossen said:

ups sorry, didn't notice the scope and camera specs underneath the picture.I live in frederiksberg. can't see the milky way, and neither the andromeda galaxy with the naked eye.

Haha no worries. I can see the milky way, but can only vaguely make out andromeda with averted vision. My location is fairly decent for a residential area in the capital region. There's a lot more I can still do without having to take my kit elsewhere! What's your scope and camera?

[Victor Boesen]

21 minutes ago, meryck said:

What's your scope and camera?

First of all i always get jealous when people say they can see the milky way from where they live.

i have a bresser pollux 150/1400 (bird-jones) good enough for when i was a starting beginner, but now i am starting to want to do some imaging which i can't because of the bird-jones design and i want better quality. 

i have a nikon d3300 which i mostly use for my youtube videos (Victor Boesen), but also performs quite good on widefield astrophotography.

these are taken at my grandma and grandpa's house in nakskov on lolland (milky way visible to the naked eye, even for my grandma) with the nikon d3300.

i am thinking about someday buying the skywatcher 150P-DS with the HEQ5 pro synscan when i have enough money (confirmation is at the 7th of may) this should be good for both visual and imaging.

Btw which telescope retailer are you buying from?

Victor Boesen

[meryck]

22 minutes ago, Bossen said:

First of all i always get jealous when people say they can see the milky way from where they live.

i have a bresser pollux 150/1400 (bird-jones) good enough for when i was a starting beginner, but now i am starting to want to do some imaging which i can't because of the bird-jones design and i want better quality. 

i have a nikon d3300 which i mostly use for my youtube videos (Victor Boesen), but also performs quite good on widefield astrophotography.

these are taken at my grandma and grandpa's house in nakskov on lolland (milky way visible to the naked eye, even for my grandma) with the nikon d3300.

i am thinking about someday buying the skywatcher 150P-DS with the HEQ5 pro synscan when i have enough money (confirmation is at the 7th of may) this should be good for both visual and imaging.

Btw which telescope retailer are you buying from?

Victor Boesen

Great pics!  I bought from binocularsuk on ebay, got the scope and mount for around 7000dkk including delivery to Denmark.

[Victor Boesen]

2 minutes ago, meryck said:

Great pics!  I bought from binocularsuk on ebay, got the scope and mount for around 7000dkk including delivery to Denmark.

thank you. 7000!! that is a really good deal you made back then!

[meryck]

19 minutes ago, Bossen said:

thank you. 7000!! that is a really good deal you made back then!

It looks even cheaper on there now: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SkyWatcher-Explorer200P-EQ-5-NewtonianReflector-T-scope-S-Price-Kit-10923-20464-/161191641021?hash=item2587c53fbd

With the weak pound right now, you could get a great bargain!

[Victor Boesen]

12 minutes ago, meryck said:

With the weak pound right now, you could get a great bargain!

oh my, that is cheap. the problem is that i don't have the money yet, and my mom would probably not let me buy it when my old scope only is one year and a month old.. but i can't wait to get a setup i can image with.

i have also thought about buying a canon d450 used from "den blå avis" the astro modify it and then use it as my imager through "my future telescope". The reason for this is because it is cheap and is used very much between astronomers. Or do you have any other recommendations? 

[meryck]

57 minutes ago, Bossen said:

oh my, that is cheap. the problem is that i don't have the money yet, and my mom would probably not let me buy it when my old scope only is one year and a month old.. but i can't wait to get a setup i can image with.

i have also thought about buying a canon d450 used from "den blå avis" the astro modify it and then use it as my imager through "my future telescope". The reason for this is because it is cheap and is used very much between astronomers. Or do you have any other recommendations? 

The Canon 450D is a great versatile and robust camera, and a top choice among astrophotographers. One reason, as you say, is that it's cheap, very easy to mod compared to other models, and can be remote controlled and scheduled easily from infrared enabled smartphones. I haven't modded mine, and it still does a great job. But if I ever get more serious, and get an autoguider, I'd like to get it modded for the very long exposure shots. The only trouble is it's my wife's camera, and I just 'borrow' it for astro-work... Not sure she'd like me to steal it completely!

[Victor Boesen]

5 minutes ago, meryck said:

The only trouble is it's my wife's camera, and I just 'borrow' it for astro-work... Not sure she'd like me to steal it completely!

Then it is probably not a good idea but lucky you that she has the 450d.

[meryck]

5 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I remember those first moments, too. An incredible experience.

Flats would be an enormous help to this poicture.

Olly

 

Actually, I'm going to try software vignetting correction, just to see how good it is. Not substitutes for flats though...

[Dbswales]

That's very nice even though unappreciated by the other half. My 1st was M42 and as soon as the 1st showed up in the live screen I nearly chocked on my cuppa. ?

 

[wornish]

Glad I am not the only one who's other half doesn't appreciate what it means to have your target galaxy (or whatever) show up on the live screen.

Sometimes things go right, most times something causes an issue thats all part of the challenge.