M51 and M101

[Desolation4all]

Not really original targets, but over the spring I tried imaging them with my relatively limited setup. I think they came out pretty well though, but the stacks do show that light pollution is a huge problem in my vicinity (Bortle 8).

Camera: Sony A77 II

Lens: Tamron 150-600mm f4.5-6.3 SP Di USD @f8

Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer

For M51:  30s lights, at ISO 1600 and 3200 (data from different nights), 600mm

For M101: 60s lights at ISO 1600 and 82s lights at ISO 3200, 300mm

Stacked in DSS with 2x drizzle, processing in Photoshop, light pollution reduced using a synthetic flat frame.

[Sunshine]

Seeing M51 suspended there in the vastness of space, a galaxy roughly 60 thousand light years across, one begins to have a sense of the scale of our universe.

beautiful images! 

[PembrokeSteve]

Very impressed by those images.
Regards,

Steve

[Demonperformer]

A couple of very nice widefield shots. I like images that show DSOs "in context".

[Desolation4all]

Thank you very much guys.

[tomato]

Very nice, a real sense of meaning to the phrase “Island Universe”.