M31 with QHY268C

[kirkster501]

49 x 180s exposures (Gain 0 offset 30) on native Takahashi FSQ85 (i.e. no focal reducer).  The Moon was up and seeing and transparency rubbish.  I went for it all the same or else we'd never do anything in the UK.

So far I am very pleased with this camera.  I really want to grab 150 exposures at least when the moon is out the way and skies are better.  It's a reasonable start.  I ultimately want this to be the RGB layer of a very high resolution picture with the luminance and 3nm Ha data from my TEC140 and Atik460 with 12 panels.  This effort is literally taking years due to the persistent rubbish autumn weather in the UK.

[ollypenrice]

Very, very nice indeed. I think you could chip away at the core to get a bit further in, though maybe that's for later in your plan?

Olly

[kirkster501]

35 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Very, very nice indeed. I think you could chip away at the core to get a bit further in, though maybe that's for later in your plan?

Olly

Thanks. Yes, that’s the plan mate.  More colour and a lum/Ha mosaic in higher resolution. Been working at the latter for two years and it is a long slog doing it here; I still only have a third of the panels.

[ollypenrice]

4 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

Thanks. Yes, that’s the plan mate.  More colour and a lum/Ha mosaic in higher resolution. Been working at the latter for two years and it is a long slog doing it here; I still only have a third of the panels.

That's how great pictures are made. Onward!!! 😁

Olly

[gorann]

That is indeed impresive. That Sony IMX571 chip, which I have learned to love in my ASI 2600, is just outstanding!

[tomato]

Nice one. I’ve just collected the subs on my last panel on a 12 panel version last night, sure a bright moon was up but what can you do in the UK?
 

My RASA 8 and 268c are going on the mount now to see if I can emulate your result, Olly is right but you do need a special kind of willpower to do big mosaics from the UK, I’m hoping the fast scope and big OSC sensor could be an acceptable short cut.

[kirkster501]

1 hour ago, tomato said:

Nice one. I’ve just collected the subs on my last panel on a 12 panel version last night, sure a bright moon was up but what can you do in the UK?
 

My RASA 8 and 268c are going on the mount now to see if I can emulate your result, Olly is right but you do need a special kind of willpower to do big mosaics from the UK, I’m hoping the fast scope and big OSC sensor could be an acceptable short cut.

Yes, you just have to get on with it.  Despite the rain and unsettled weather of late there have been some clear spells at night this week in Notts,  despite the moon.  I've found that with the LDAS LP in front of the QHY268 then as long as I'm about 90 degrees from the moon, with a good shield on the scope, then I can at least grab something.  Beggars cannot be choosers here.....

My result above still lacks a bit of something I feel.  I am hoping another 100 or so exposures will help.

What I will say is that pre-processing these large files and their huge data sets takes a toll on the processing PC.  5Ghz/32G/4TB SSD RAM and it still takes 20 minutes to integrate only 49 subs.  Just imagine 200 or 300!

[AbsolutelyN]

Really nice image. Agree you just have to get out and get on with it otherwise you never get anything in this rubbish weather - but can be stressful watching rain radar and dashing out to cover up the scope before it gets soaked!

[kirkster501]

This is the mosaic I am working on in high resolution with the Astrodon 3nm Ha and Luminance.  I want to do 180 mins in L and 120 in Ha for each panel.  In the two years previous to now (2018, 2019 seasons) I've only done panels 1,2 and 6.  I was hoping for a good run at this during this season but the autumn weather has yet again been utterly dire.  I've been getting very despondent with it and so did the RGB with the OSC above.  I want another 100-150 subs to complete the RGB and the top image.

[Phillyo]

4 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

What I will say is that pre-processing these large files and their huge data sets takes a toll on the processing PC.  5Ghz/32G/4TB SSD RAM and it still takes 20 minutes to integrate only 49 subs.  Just imagine 200 or 300!

Haha, when I did 300x1min subs at the weekend it took my PC about 5 hours to calibrate and integrate them with 50 darks, 50 lights and 50 bias frames. I'm only running an older i7 6700k though so I'm hoping an upgrade to a new AMD 9 5900X soon will help out with that! As a true glutton for punishment I also did xdrizzle data. Then did it all again with just flat frames to compare. Turns out I don't need darks or bias! 

Lovely M31. Can't wait to see the final product with the integrated Lum and Ha details. 

[ultranova]

You already have a stunning image of M31

To add more data is the icing on the cake,

Hopefully the cloud Gods will be kind to us all soon.

good luck with you project, stay with with it.

Well done 

Paul