My go at M51

[Shibby]

I'm still a newbie to all this; got out there on Thursday and spent most of the night getting set up and trying to drift align rather unsuccessfully! But I did eventually manage to take 12x90s subs before it started getting light - at only 2.30am!

So this is an unguided 12x90s + 6 darks with 130P and unmodified Nikon D70 at ISO 800 +2x barlow.

You can just make out IC 4263 on the RHS

The image is pretty noisy so the close ups don't look good. Also, I had to use a bit of noise reduction which I can't say I like having to do.

The tracking errors are also obvious and were pretty consistent throughout the subs. So I think with more time getting the hang of my drift alignment, I hope to take better quality and longer subs.

Lewis

[jnp]

Is this on a SW 130P 5" newtonian on an EQ2? Also what FL (900 or 650)? I think 90s is already not bad considering you have the barlow too. Your tenacity with drift alignment will pay off in the long run.

You already know noise wil improve with more subs but try some bias & flats too.

cheers

John

[Shibby]

It's the 650mm FL, but I've just replaced the mount with a used Vixen GP that I'm very happy with so far! I've placed the barlow as close as I can to the sensor but as you guessed, the FOV is quite narrow - it looks like about 0.7deg. I may not be able to capture for that much longer but hope be able to reduce the trailing I think (I kind of had to give up on the drift aligning in order to take any subs at all before the light returned).

[cloudbuster]

Hi Lewis...a fine first effort.

I just shot M51 for the first time recently also:

Stargazers Lounge - bobholder's Album: Bob Holder's Images - Picture

Im a newbee too....with the same vixen mount!

cheers

bob

[Shibby]

Hi Bob, nice one! Looks like we captured a comparable amount of detail. What length and how many subs did you use?

[cloudbuster]

Hi SHIBBY

This thread of mine might give u a bit of extra info....hope it helps.http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-deep-sky/104858-help-please-my-first-m51.html

cheers

bob