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M51 - The Whirlpool


James

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After my M82 I wanted to squeeze in a quick effort on the Whirlpool. M51 is one of my favourite objects from the dark skies we have in Somerset and I was curious to see what imaging would do for this object as I think it looks pretty amazing in my 10" reflector.

Once again thanks to SteveL for his processing :thumbright:

I'm posting two images, one is a single 15 minute sub which I really like - although a little star trailing is becoming evident and the other is the results of processing 45 minutes of subs. The first has been minimally processed by me, just a little fiddle with curves to darken the background. The second image by comparison shows heaps of data that I just didn't know was there.

Equipment used is my usual SXV-H9 and WO FLT110 on an EQ6...

11671_normal.jpeg

The processed image is next, I'm amazed at just how much data lurks in these images waiting to be eked out and I really feel I'm getting value for money when an extra faint fuzzy or two creep out of the woodwork so to speak :hello2: I think that's IC4263 at the top right (a mag 15.2 galaxy).

11672_normal.jpeg

My dust bunny is really prominent in these - a good clean is the next job...

James

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Quality effort sir :hello2:. I remember M51 was my first 'proper' target with the Atik and seeing yours is putting a big smile on my face. Thanks!

Quick question for you though, on the FLT are you using a standard Synta dovetail or something a little beefier?

Tony..

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The image is great and it is a nice comparison between the two images.

One question: why do some of the fainter stars appear more prominant in the first image than the second? for instance there are a couple of stars near the galaxy in the top right which disapear.

NC

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