M51 - a year on

[lukebl]

I know, another M51. Sorry

Thought I'd have a go at this again and compare it it with an image I made a year ago with more or less the same kit, to see if I've improved at all. I imaged this last night, and for the first time I left it running unattended while I went off to bed. I got up again at 3 to switch everything off, hoping that I would then have about 5 hours-worth of images. Unfortunately the guiding had failed half-way through, due to an overhanging tree obscuring the guidestar and confusing PHD (should have seen that coming!), so I only had a couple of hours of decent subs. Never mind. Here is the result.

26 x 5mins, unmodded Canon 450d, ISO800, 250mm f/4.8 Newt, NEQ6

And here's an image I took of it almost exactly a year ago with roughly the same setup. At the time I was really pleased with it. Still got a huge amount to learn about imaging, but you can improve a fair bit without getting new kit, and that's what makes it so fun and rewarding, isn't it? (Still looking for an Atik 16HR or 314L, if anyone has one up for grabs, though!)

here's the full frame. Lots of fuzzies visible in the original image down to at least 18th magnitude.

[Penfold]

That's great seeing the amount of improvement you've made, just shows you have to keep at it, nice one.

[jgs001]

Well done Luke, the new version is much improved. It's always interesting to do the comparisons between new and old versions.

[Uplooker]

Well done! Thats a massive improvement resulting in a very good capture.

[samtheeagle]

Awesome progress there Luke, you must be very happy It's always good to look back on your previous efforts. I keep all of my old pics, even if I've got a "better" new version. I like to reflect on where I started and how things are coming along...