M81 and M82

The spring brings out some great galaxies. This is the first iteration of a long-term project I'll be working on with respect to these two galaxies.

M81 is on the right, lies around 11.7 million light years away and harbors around 250 billion stars. M82, on the left,  is also called the "Cigar Galaxy" lies at about the same distance as M81. The two galaxies are seperated by about 150,000 light years.

Image Details:

* Imaging Scope: Astrotelescopes 80mm ED Refractor

* Imaging Camera: Nikon D7000

* Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval Refractor

* Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot AutoGuider

* Mount: Celestron CGEM

* Exposures: 9 * 8 minute lights, 9 * 8 minute darks, 30 bias frames

* ISO 1000

* Aligned and Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker

* Post-Processing Dynamic Photo HDR, LightRoom and Photoshop.

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

This image is a combination of files taken two nights ago (8*8 minute light frames at ISO800) and files taken two years ago (10*8 minute light frames at ISO1250), combined in Deep Sky Stacker. I still had some mild guiding issues the other night, so there's a bit of an issue with respect to elongated stars, and the galaxy could be a bit sharper. For a change, I decided to do post-processing on my iPad using the Snapseed application. Came out OK and the app handled my requirements quite well!

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

This is a so-so image - it has a long way to go but I thought I'd publish this iteration. I have a fair bit of image data but might go out and get some more this weekend, including some shorter exposures so that the core isn't so burnt out, as well as the stars in the foreground. I also feel I can be getting a lot more detail here. I'll work on a new iteration next week when I have time.

Image Details

• Imaging Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval Refractor
  Imaging Camera: Nikon D7000
  Guiding Scope: Astrotelescopes 80mm ED Refractor
  Guiding Camera: Meade DSI-C
  Exposures: 8 * 10 minute lights, 4 * 10 minute darks
  ISO 640
  Aligned and Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
  HDR through Photomatix PRO
  Post-Processing in GIMP (contrast, saturation and unsharp mask)
  Noise Removal in Neat Image

M101 "Pinwheel" Galaxy

This is my first attempt at M101. This galaxy is approximately 2 million light years away and is part of the "M101 Group" of galaxies.

It's okay, I should have taken more exposures. This would also be better imaged through a scope larger than 80mm. Looks like I captured lots of other fuzzballs here so I'll submit it to Astrometry and see what they are!

Image Details:

- Imaging Scope: Astrotelescopes 80mm ED Refractor
- Imaging Camera: Nikon D7000
- Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval Refractor
- Guiding Camera: Meade DSI-C
- Mount: Celestron CGEM
- Exposures: 7 * 12 minute lights, 6 * 12 minute darks
- ISO 800
- Aligned and Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Post-Processing in GIMP (contrast, saturation and unsharp mask)
- Noise Reduction in NeatImage