M31 and M45 from Friday night

[Sparrow]

I see I'm not the only one who targeted these two on Friday night.

Canon EOS1000D and Tamron 70 - 300mm lense - both these at about 280mm. Astronomik CLS filter.

M31 - 21 x 5 mins - ISO 800 + darks and flats

M45 - 6 x 5 mins - ISO 800 + darks and flats.

I don't seem to have achieved the clarity or detail that Robindurant got in theirs. I think this is perhaps due to guiding not working quite as well as usual and also a critical error - I forgot to level the scope before polar alignment so I think I was geting a bit of rotation. Never mind - there's always another night.

[jgs001]

Nice results John... A bit of vignetting going on there, which is odd with using flats... Flats used to deal with vignetting nicely for me on my 1.25" draw tube.

[JCJC]

Very nice images there John..... like John says there is some vignetting visible though... not sure why the flats didn't sort it out.

Jordan

[Sparrow]

Thanks - yes I know - I've really got to sort out these flats - I'll have another go at taking flats tomorrow and a try again. The flats I took to use for through prime focus stuff through the scope work really well - these were through the camera's own lense so somethings wrong with them.

[barkis]

A very fine pair of objects.

I quite like these type of images, and they can inspire others to have a go with their camera and lenses.

This shows the good results that can be achieved.

Ron.

[steppenwolf]

Well done, John - you snatched 'em! The vignetting is not of your making but taking 'FLATS' and processing with them will alleviate this common problem.

[Herakles]

Nicely done with the camera and lens mate.

Pete

[Taff]

Hi They are very nice captures with you.Great capture with the neb around the stars.Mark

[Sparrow]

Thanks everyone - the kind comments on here really do inspire you to keep trying and get the best results possible.

Still getting used to so many new things at the moment - new equipment and new software and new processing techniques. Can't believe I've only been at it for 18 months. This really is a great hobby and this forum helps so much.

[gary1968]

Very nice images sparrow. The detail is great with nice pinpoint stars and a lot of neb. around m45. Thanls for sharing.

Gary

[psychobabbler]

Beautiful nebulosity on M45, there.

PB