The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

[Davide Simonetti]

Wow, what a difference a dark sky and a fast scope makes! It's been a while since I last imaged this galaxy and this time I tried it using the 150mm Newtonian on its first outing to a place with much darker skies than murky north London where I usually operate from. This shot was done from Kelvedon Common in Essex and the difference between this and my earlier attempts is incredible - I could see from the first sub that this was going to be a vast improvement. Once it was stacked it needed very little processing. I wish more than ever to move out of the city now 

20 x 120 second exposures at 400 ISO (58 minutes integration time).
12 x dark frames
79 x flat frames
21 x bias/offset frames (subtracted from flat frames only)

Captured with APT
Guided with PHD2
Processed in Nebulosity 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

[Stu]

I like that Davide, very much  

[Davide Simonetti]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

I like that Davide, very much  

Thanks Stu

[Saganite]

43 minutes ago, Davide Simonetti said:

Wow, what a difference a dark sky and a fast scope makes! It's been a while since I last imaged this galaxy and this time I tried it using the 150mm Newtonian on its first outing to a place with much darker skies than murky north London where I usually operate from. This shot was done from Kelvedon Common in Essex and the difference between this and my earlier attempts is incredible - I could see from the first sub that this was going to be a vast improvement. Once it was stacked it needed very little processing. I wish more than ever to move out of the city now 

20 x 120 second exposures at 400 ISO (58 minutes integration time).
12 x dark frames
79 x flat frames
21 x bias/offset frames (subtracted from flat frames only)

Captured with APT
Guided with PHD2
Processed in Nebulosity 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

Lovely image Davide.

I had the same experience with this very Galaxy during  last winter, seeing it from the outskirts of a town, where the the cores were barely visible, and then driving home 12 miles to my own Dob, where the cores were very visible and a fair bit of Galactic structure could be seen.

[Knighty2112]

Excellent image. Well done!