The Leo Triplet

[Davide Simonetti]

Despite all my weather apps predicting cloud the night was unexpectedly clear (ish) with just the glare of the Moon and some some patches of thin high cloud to contend with. I wasn't sure how much of the three galaxies would come out as very little was visible on the subs but I was pleasantly surprised.

M65 (bottom right), M66 (bottom left), and NGC 3628 (top).

1 hour and 25 minutes total integration time
68 x 75 second exposures at 400 ISO
29 x dark frames
52 x flat frames
21 x bias/offset frames (subtracted from flat frames only)

Captured with APT
Guided with PHD2
Processed in Nebulosity, Maxim DL, and Photoshop

Equipment:
Sky-Watcher Explorer-150PDS
Skywatcher EQ5 Mount
Orion 50mm Mini Guide Scope
ZWO ASI120 MC imaging and guiding camera
Canon 700D DSLR
 

[Yoddha]

Nice image! I would try leaving the background a bit brighter, it looks more natural to me  and can prevent data clipping in the faint details of the galaxies...

 

[Davide Simonetti]

On 4/19/2017 at 14:51, Yoddha said:

Nice image! I would try leaving the background a bit brighter, it looks more natural to me  and can prevent data clipping in the faint details of the galaxies...

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a try next time