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(Another) M51 to add to the pile...


RichieJarvis

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Well - there is nothing like being original, is there!

Shot this one last night whilst Stephen Green, MikeP and some non-SGL friends were over...

Bit pig sick about my &$^%%! Ha data though... I made the fatal error of not going back to check the first sub immediately it came up - was shooting 10 minute Ha subs - I had tweaked the focus, so was cropped on a single star to get a decent FWHM value - of course, when I came back to check the Ha data an hour and a half later, I discovered I had not removed the crop! D'oh! Kick myself, of course :)

Then happened the second fatal error of the night whilst I was putting bins, etc away after friends had gone home @ 2am - and managed to kick the power switch on the PSU, turning off power to the mount, filter-wheel, dew heaters etc :) It was then that I grew a brain, decided I was too tired and called it a night.

Anyway, here is the data without any Ha included - must grab that at a later date. Its not up to the standard of some of the outstanding M51's that have been posted this week - but its the best I have ever managed, so I am happy.

I'll run this to Astrometry.net and report back with what I think are 2 other galaxies in the image as well.

Image Details:

Date: 2009-03-21

Scope: Astro Professional 102ED with 0.66 FR

Camera: SXV-H9

Exposure (L): 11 x 600 seconds - 1x1

Exposure ®: 9 x 200 seconds - 2x2

Exposure (G): 9 x 200 seconds - 2x2

Exposure (:D: 9 x 200 seconds - 2x2

Guidescope: GSO 8" F/4

Guidecamera: SX Guidehead

2009-03-21-M51-L11x600-RGB9x200-Final-Small.jpg

Oh, and I tried TJ's suggestion of boosting the colour data - I took each channel, converted it to RGB (otherwise CS2 will not let you set it as luminance), duplicated it, made the top layer blend mode 'soft-light', made the bottom layer blend mode 'luminosity', and then flattened and converted back to grayscale. Worked a treat - not only did it boost the colour data, but also significantly darkened the background automatically. Thanks for the hint TJ!Cheers!

Richie

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Having watched this image being constructed certainly adds to its appeal. On several occasions while the subs were rolling in, I tried in vain to find it with my 10x50 binos - it is fascinating that something that could not be seen can be revealed in such detail in this image. Beautiful - nice work Richie.

Thanks also for your hospitality. It was a lovely evening with great company. Sorry I ate so many of your biscuits!!!!

Oh and yes - come on Stephen, lets see the M81/82 you were working on.

Mike

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For all the headaches, you got a good result Richie.

Mistakes are part and parcel of this game, so much to keep track of.

I expect to be tearing my hair out once I get going.

MikeP is a bit of a Gannet when there is food about I've been told, so you woun't have many biscuits left.:)

Ron.:)

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You have me lost there a bit Rich, i'm not sure thats exactly how it goes, :) but whatever, the results a good 'un.

Somebody, I forget who sadly, posted about the "Gabany" method. I had stumbled upon something similar by chance, but the way it was described was nice. Dunno how it would work with your rgb data though.

Stargazer - A Private Observatory In The Heart Of Europe

Thanks to the original poster. Sorry I forgot who you are, Les maybe?

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Thanks all...

Mike - between you and I, there were not a lot of biscuits left - but thats why I brought them (or sent the wifey out to get them! - shes a diamond I tell ya :)) I am a bit of a food fiend myself... Mind you, they were pretty much frozen by the end of the night!

I need to read up on the GaBany method myself....

I've got to process Stephen's M81/M82 up - hopefully later today once the Sister-in-law, twins and Ollie have departed.

Cheers,

Richie

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Oh, and heres the Astrometry data for that image from Flickr.com

Hello, this is the blind astrometry solver. Your results are:

(RA, Dec) center:(202.489725506, 47.2196528665) degrees

(RA, Dec) center (H:M:S, D:M:S):(13:29:57.534, +47:13:10.750)

Orientation:-87.31 deg E of N

Pixel scale:3.06 arcsec/pixel

Parity:Normal ("Right-handed")

Field size :52.16 x 39.12 arcminutes

Your field contains:

IC 4263

NGC 5194 / M 51 / Whirlpool galaxy

NGC 5195 / M 51 / Whirlpool galaxy

Thanks,

Richie

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