Even more refractor galaxies . . . M51

[Barry-Wilson]

Following from Olly, another refractor at native FL of F7 however with larger pixels and FOV.  There is reduced resolution at 1.2"/px over Olly's and I keep musing about a small Sony ccd which at 3.69 um would give me 0.8"/px . . . very tempting.

M51 is a beautiful gem of an interacting galaxy, grabbed while the UK finally started to warm up and my garden burst into Spring. We've returned to cloud for the time being however this image will form a good base for whatever I may be able to capture over the coming weeks.  I am partially glad about the returning cloud - my AAG CloudWatcher's rain sensor broke (I'm blaming the snow) and is back with Lunatico for repair (being posted to me today), so I had anxious through the night wake-ups to check for showers etc and am now pretty knackered.  Brought back plenty of memories of setting-up and tearing down, nodding off in the garden in my camping chair wrapped in blankets etc.

A hefty crop is below.

Details:

• William Optics 132FLT at F7 with original TMB flattener
• 10 Micron GM1000HPS
• QSI683wsg-8 with Astrodon filters
• Lum 21 x 600s; 56 x 600s RGB; 9 x 1200s Ha (5nm); total integration 15.8 hours

Crop:

 

[Mr niall]

Amazing! Great shot

[Allinthehead]

Very nice Barry. 

27 minutes ago, Barry-Wilson said:

so I had anxious through the night wake-ups to check for showers etc and am now pretty knackered. 

Don't you just love that. Even with my rain sensor i still wake up multiple times through the night when the gear is out. 

[swag72]

Very nice Barry..... I like that ?

As to refractor imaging and small pixels, I do rate it. I'm at 0.63" pp with my refractor setup, same as I got with my ODK10 and KAF8300..... I'm sticking now, it works well! I must be happy, I've not looked at a long focal scope since getting the TMB And QSI690 ?

[Barry-Wilson]

20 hours ago, Mr niall said:

Amazing! Great shot

Thank you.

20 hours ago, Allinthehead said:

Very nice Barry. 

Don't you just love that. Even with my rain sensor i still wake up multiple times through the night when the gear is out. 

It's now repaired and winging its way back to me . . . back to automation in my man-shed .

11 hours ago, swag72 said:

Very nice Barry..... I like that ?

As to refractor imaging and small pixels, I do rate it. I'm at 0.63" pp with my refractor setup, same as I got with my ODK10 and KAF8300..... I'm sticking now, it works well! I must be happy, I've not looked at a long focal scope since getting the TMB And QSI690 ?

I am convinced from all of your examples, Steve's, Peter Goodhew's, Olly's: just got choose my moment.  The thought of collimation for an RC or ODK, gives me collywobbles.  Cheers Sara and enjoying reading about your woman-shed too .

[tomato]

A wonderful image, and if I have read your post correctly, very encouraging that it was captured from the soggy UK!

[ollypenrice]

Refracting is such a civilzed process....

lly

[tony210]

Great subtle image Barry - I always think refractor stars are so natural although I still persevere with RCTs- Tony.

[peter shah]

Lovely Image Barry

[Steve 1962]

That's a beautiful image Barry. 

Refractors Rule!

 

[Rodd]

You have found the contrast in the galaxy that is so often missing on images of M51.  You nailed it.

Rodd

 

PS  I still don't know how you get such a smooth, but not clipped background.  Amazing

[Barry-Wilson]

On 24/04/2018 at 19:24, tomato said:

A wonderful image, and if I have read your post correctly, very encouraging that it was captured from the soggy UK!

Yes, from soggy UK, though the main bulk of data from the burst of sunshine last week in April . . . maybe that was the whole of our summer .

On 24/04/2018 at 19:38, ollypenrice said:

Refracting is such a civilzed process....

lly

I do agree . . . so straightforward.

On 24/04/2018 at 20:10, tony210 said:

Great subtle image Barry - I always think refractor stars are so natural although I still persevere with RCTs- Tony.

I am regularly tempted, eg a 10" RC on AB&S now, but I am just not sure about collimation, contrast, dew etc.

On 24/04/2018 at 20:22, peter shah said:

Lovely Image Barry

Cheers Peter.

On 24/04/2018 at 21:06, Steve 1962 said:

That's a beautiful image Barry. 

Refractors Rule!

 

Hi Steve - nice to hear from you and see that you are back imaging .

On 26/04/2018 at 05:11, Rodd said:

You have found the contrast in the galaxy that is so often missing on images of M51.  You nailed it.

Rodd

 

PS  I still don't know how you get such a smooth, but not clipped background.  Amazing

Thanks Rodd.  Interestingly much of the final image comes from a higher HaRGB/LHaRGB blend.  Even with a controlled Lum stretch I felt the central details of the galaxy were lost - maybe 10min Lum was too much?  In the end I blended the LHaRGB with the HaRGB and it gave a much more pleasing result.

[tony210]

2 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

I am regularly tempted, eg a 10" RC on AB&S now, but I am just not sure about collimation, contrast, dew etc.

Hi Barry - you are doing very well with your refractor- but dew rarely a problem and collmation becomes a simple routine when you get to know the scope- less contrast I would agree given the large central obstruction but with long exposures and a good cooled CCD I suspect this is not really a big factor -no good for visual however unlike your refractor though - best wishes Tony.