M81, M82, and NGC3077

[ramdom]

This is the best I could do. This is harder than I thought. 

Camera: QH247C (24mp OSC) CMOS cooled to -15 degrees C.

Telescope: Takahashi FC100DF Steinheil fluorite doublet apochromat refractor @ f/4.9.

Reducer: Takahashi FC-35 2".

Mount: Paramount MyT.

Filters: 2" Baader UV-IR-Cut.

Software: TheSkyX Pro, Sharpcap, PixInsight.

30 seconds (best out of 10 frames).

--Ram

[barkis]

Getting the data is always a good feat, so you did good there. 
AP is a difficult pursuit, but like any difficult task, it gets easier with experience. so don't beat yourself up here.
Most great Images are the result of good captured Data, and very capable processing, even the Hubble guys have to do that,
so you're in a big league here.  Just keep doing it, don't ever despair, and you will be fine. 
Hopefully, you might get an APOD award one day.
Best Wishes.
Ron.

Edited July 29, 2019 by barkis

[davew]

I'm really impressed with the detail you've drawn out of  M82. The wonders of the modern camera in tandem with imaging skill !

I wouldn't even attempt these three as I doubt you'd see anything 🤨

I said on the main page that 30 seconds sounded easy but wasn't. Too long for static shots and too short for tracked shots.

Dave.

[ramdom]

Thanks - yeah, it turned out bit better than I thought but I was just giving some targets a try specifically for this contest while I waited for m33 to rise which was my imaging goal for the night. I also did the Pacman nebula which was okay too but this one turned out a bit better so I went with it. 

As far as m81, if you look closely you can see the overall spiral shape of the galaxy there but it's very faint and short of using masks I couldn't pull that out without blowing up M82 also. 

The problem IMO is the lack of stacking - I think if I could stack a bunch of 1 second images (with higher gain), even limited to 30 seconds total, it might turn out better.  Short of that, a dark site and going for a mosaic like the milky way sounds like a winner to me.

--Ram