Pseudo-mini-messier-marathon pays dividends :1

[Demonperformer]

Long story short.

The other night I decided to have a go at getting photos of as many messiers as I could. Not 'proper' photos, but just single exposures, and yes, I was using my goto, which will naturally horrify all 'proper' messier pursuers.

Anyway, was quite surprised how some of the objects turned out, so went back to redo my first surprise last night. 30-second subs on my 102 (alt-az) with all the help provided by my local streetlights.

This is just stacked and a bit of post-processing done in DSS. Lots more reprocessing needed, but I only have GIMP and am too excited to wait to post it, so here it is:

[Ben Ritchie]

The other night I decided to have a go at getting photos of as many messiers as I could. Not 'proper' photos, but just single exposures.

I think it's a great idea. A friend of mine had a load of fun taking 15s integrations with a Lodestar - not POTW candidates but he a great time, saw a lot and made it through virtually the entire list while I was faffing around trying to get my G11 to autoguide through the infamous 76s error.

[Demonperformer]

Thanks, Ben.

It's a technique I think I may try again. One evening gives you a quick idea of what objects might be worth having a proper go. And if you avoid wasting just one evening out of the objects you try, you have made your time back.