Sorry Another M51

[Penfold]

So after 2 nights of trying to get guiding working, I decided at midnight it was better to get some unguided data whilst we had clear skies.

So I took 200 x 100 sec. luminance lights of which I was able to use about half, as any more and the stars looked too egg shaped.

Tonight I'll try adding some colour, and as I've not moved the scope I'll try taking my first flats, do I have to take them for each filter or can I just take one set?

[cloudbuster]

thats a peach of a pic!

[Newfie]

Well done excellent pic !!

[ollypenrice]

Going well! Very well. Remarkably deep for short exposures, but that is why f ratio is King in imaging...

Flats for each filter, I'm afraid. No shirking!!! But don't take darks for each flat. Instead take a set of bias frames, the shortest your camera can take, median combine them and use this master bias as a dark for each flat. Ignore bias boxes in any stacking software. Your master bias is your universal dark-for-flats.

Flats - good ones - are essential. Above your sky background is remarkably even and black, which suggests that it is slightly clipped. With flats you will not need to be so aggressive in cutting out noise.

Olly

[dc509]

Wonderful detail in there. Nice...

d

[peter shah]

great detail and pretty deep

[Penfold]

Thanks for that guys.

I managed to get out last night (Saturday ended up cloudy) and tried the t-shirt method at dusk technique, I've no idea what they're going to be like but took 20 of each and bias as you suggested Olly.

Got a set of RGB images just before some high wispy cloud appeared however, the moon was brighter and higher in the sky so we'll have to see how it turns out.

At least it stopped me from watching poor old Rory.

[Horus]

Larvely ! great detail

[chiltonstar]

Why "sorry"?

It's a superb pic, with very natural levels of detail!

Chris

[Penfold]

Thanks both, because it seemed that every other image was of M51

[Trevorw]

Never apologise, this is one of the finest galaxies to capture and hardest to process IMO

[Penfold]

Thanks Trevor... I'm just so amazed that from watching Stargazing Live here I am just a few months later actually taking pictures of far way galaxies, all thanks to the help and reading I've done on here.

However I made a complete pigs ear of my RGB data and flats... Oh well there's always next time.