jgs001
Brian Cox
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I'd hoped to have got this in time for last weeks Duo theme for the Photo 52, although it's something I was trying to do anyway, and I'm not sure it fits within the remit of the 52. Anyway, This is the Messier object M51, also known as the Whirlpool galaxy. What you see in the middle of the image is a larger spiral galaxy that is in the process of consuming (subsuming ? absorbing ?) a smaller one. The pair of galaxies are 37 Million light years away, and to get in closer, I either need a dedicated Astro cam (with a small sensor) or a much bigger scope (they both cost silly money 
)
This is my first true test of autoguiding. This uses a second scope and camera to track and maintain a very accurate lock on a single star, controlled by software on a PC, allowing for much longer exposures as any drive train errors from the mount are controlled and removed.
This is 5 x 1200s (20 minutes each) @ ISO400 exposures, shot at a focal length of 600mm, combined with 3 dark frames, 5 flat frames and a bunch of bias frames stacked in deep sky stacker, then processed further in PS
Thanks for looking, Hope you like it.
)This is my first true test of autoguiding. This uses a second scope and camera to track and maintain a very accurate lock on a single star, controlled by software on a PC, allowing for much longer exposures as any drive train errors from the mount are controlled and removed.
This is 5 x 1200s (20 minutes each) @ ISO400 exposures, shot at a focal length of 600mm, combined with 3 dark frames, 5 flat frames and a bunch of bias frames stacked in deep sky stacker, then processed further in PS
Thanks for looking, Hope you like it.
