M106 from the 22nd and 23rd March. I havent been able to get any HA images of 106 yet but im pleased so far with the LRGB data. I did have an issue with what appears to be CA (chromatic aberration) although this is likely my fault as im new to combining RGB images. Ian King is currently looking at the scope for evaluation. 100×1.5min luminance 20×1.5min RGB
Decided to add in some HA i had collected on M101 bringing out some lovely red star forming regions. Its a bit of a learning curve with this like everything in astronomy as i had to mask the master HA considerably before adding it to the red channel. By masking so heavily i inevitably discarded most of the HA data i had collected which is a disappointment but thats something ill know for future galaxy images.
Just playing around with my data from M101 and decided to post the luminance. Interestingly the galaxy is 21 million light years from earth and also almost twice the size of our milky way galaxy with around 1 trillion suns!
I recently purchased a new mono camera which will be primarily used for widefield images of nebula. Since the pixel size is relatively small at 3.75u giving me 1.5″ arc secs pixel i thought id give it a go at some galaxies. Moving from a modified dslr to dedicated cooled camera has not been the easiest with a new set of tools to learn including combining channels and learning new software.
So here i have M101 taken on the 26th and 27th March 102×1.5min luminace, 25x 1.5min RGB of each channel.
Asi 6200 mm +Fsq 106
Its been a couple of months since I’ve done any astrophotography mainly due to family commitments and gardening during the long summer days. This image of the flaming star was actually one from last year that had a few issues so i decided to leave it for a summer holiday to process. I had quite a few dust bunnies which my flats didn’t resolve so I’ve used clone stamp in pixinsight. 43×2.5min + darks and flats.
Decided since its galaxy season to have a crack at M51. Actually i was planning this only as a test before my new scope arrives in July but didn’t expect such a result. There is a bit of field curvature in stars around the galaxy (pointing outwards) but from this experience i expect to remove that in future subs by better centering the object before and after a meridian flip. 93×1.5min. I will also increase exposure next time although i was concerned by mirror flop etc etc which didn’t show its face.
IC 443 from the 27.2.19 using NB1 filter. I have noticed i get some halos using the NB1 filter on very bright stars so ive been learning how to reduce this within pixinsight using starhalo script. It may not be perfect but for a first attempt im reasonably pleased. 59×2.5min exposures
Some excellent feedback on forums prompted me to re balance the colour in processing removing a green cast and slightly stretching the red. It may not be perfect but im really pleased with the result.
Images taken on the 26th Feb 31×2.5min D2 filter and 28×2.5min NB1 filter. Ive realized i really need to start adjusting focus during the night as temperature differences and seeing conditions have shown me in this image. Looking at my RAW images a huge difference can be seen from the beginning of the evening. Also the christmas tree is reasonably low on the horizon for me with a lot of light pollution so im pleased to get this result.
