M31 - 26th July 2009

[Starflyer]

Here's my first attempt at M31 taken from around 1:30 this morning.

WO66SD / WO 0.8x reducer flattener / Canon 450D / IDAS LP filter

EQ6 pro guided with the WO 80FD / QHY5

15 x 7min subs, darks, flats and bias

Stacked with DSS and levels / curves in Photoshop.

The transparency wasn't very good and I can see the image needs more subs but it's another small step up the learning curve ladder

Cheers,

Ian

[narrowbandpaul]

well that aint half bad.

nice one.

[ashenlight]

Ian, that is beautiful. You have captured the majesty, those dust lanes are showing nicely too. I think more subs would be a good idea, if you have the time (and clear sky) but it's looking really good to me. How high up was it when you imaged? I am desperate to have my first look at M31, particularly after seeing your image, it looks huge!!

[Starflyer]

Thanks for the kind comments

I had to wait for it to clear the house next door, so I think it must have been about 45º when I started. I don't remember how high it was at 3:30 am when in a sleepy daze my phone woke me up to go and shut it all down

[Sam]

That looks great Ian, you've the dust lanes and it's nice and bright - well done.

Sam

[Coco]

Wow... that's simply amazing for July, where a bout's are you?

Guy....

[SteveL]

For July, thats just amazing!

It`ll be a month or so before this thing clears the house for me at a decent start time, but am looking forward to seeing it and imaging it again.

[Grant]

Great shot Ian! Lovely to see those dust lanes coming out nicely!

[Beyond_Vision]

A great first attempt you have caught it well for this time of year

Regards

Kevin

[adamsp123]

that is a cracker of a pic!

[Starstrike]

That is a great image Ian, I wish my galaxy images looked like that. Paul

[legion48]

That's a fantastic capture Ian, and for a first go at M31, well!

[brendant]

First class attempt for this time of year, captured a lot of detail, well done.

Brendan

[Deneb]

A huge pic of M31, it's a bit low at the moment where I am, but it's one of my targets for my WO66SD. Thanks for sharing it.

[Tim]

As said, this is really good for the time of year, loads of detail coming through.

Just keep on adding to it, you'll be surprised how big M31 grows with lots of exposure.

Nice going!

[ncjunk]

Good capture I like the dust lanes very nice.

Neil C

[gary1968]

Well done on the M31 Ian, its a cracker...... Well done on becoming a moderator as well, a lot has happened since my last vistit to SGL. Now that the darker skies are returning I'll be in and around here more often.

Gary

[Starflyer]

Cheers for all the comments

Apologies for the late reply, I've had a mad week in work doing 3 peoples jobs and I've only been popping on for 5 mins at a time

I'm in North Herts Coco