Whirlpool Galaxy (200mm DSLR + SkyGuider Pro) under heavy light pollution

[soundwave]

Hello everybody!

I decided to try and take a shot at shooting a small galaxy with my 70-200mm f4 lens + Canon SL3 (250D) + SkyGuider Pro + Auto-guiding.

I've only recently started auto-guiding my SGP using ZWO's mini bundle, and so far I'm really enjoying using/testing it.

To mount the ZWO guide-scope to the camera, I've designed and 3D printed a clamp-mount for the lens. It seems to work well. I might do a detailed post about it in the near future.

Some details: 

This image was taken from my front yard (Bortle 8-9), under a street light.

Integration:
1h10m (28x150sec), ISO-400
10 darks, no flats because I accidently touched the focus ring when putting on the lens cap.

Filter:
SVBony CLS clip-in.

Equipment:
Canon SL3 (250D)
Canon 70-200mm f4 USM (@f4.5)
SkyGuider Pro + ZWO ASI 120MM Mini + ZWO Mini Guide Scope
NINA + PHD2

Processing:
PixInsight (Cropped).

I used a combination of auto-dithering on the RA and manual dithering on the DEC.
Basically, I auto-dithered every 2 frames, but every 5 frames I would pause the sequence in NINA, stop the guiding in PHD2, move the DEC very slightly, then resume guiding and the sequence (re-calibration was not needed in PHD2 after stop/resume).
While the final image is noisy, the noise doesn't seem to be aligned in any direction (no walking noise).

I'm pretty happy with the result, I thought it would turn out much worse

Thanks for viewing.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by soundwave

[scotty38]

Great result that has turned out great. You put some effort in to it and have been duly rewarded!

[callisto]

I really like the scale of this shot...well done 👍

 

Mark