[AstroFest] Blown across the northern horizon (M33)

[Camelopardalis]

Folks,

In the north, often known as the Triangulum galaxy after the inconspicuous constellation in its foreground, or sometimes the Pinwheel galaxy - not to be confused with the more obvious pinwheel, M101...

Or just M33 :D

Collected over 3 late nights, with seeing that can only have claimed to be average at best, these photons found their way down the tube of my Esprit 100 and excited my ASI1600MM-Cool.

With its low surface brightness, this beast of a galaxy is a tricky one to process (in my limited experience), needless to say, critique and suggestions welcomed as always...

Cheers,
Dunk

[Placidus]

Well done!

Never tried that one, not in 14 years, because it's so low in the north.

[multiweb]

Nice colours. :thumbsup: Had a go at it last year. Certainly a lot higher than Sydney.

[ozstronomer]

Great Image Dunk, Processing looks good on my monitor

I assume this was with your ZWO 1600? I'm curious on the number of subs you collected and what exposure length was each frame

Cheers Geoff

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks M&T! It scrapes 30 degrees up here, so just about doable. A winter trip to the top end is soooo tempting, I know there's good stuff to be had in Cassiopeia:D



Thanks Marc! Those extra 7 degrees can make all the difference :D

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Geoff! Yep, taken with the 1600. Luminance was gain 100, 45x 2 minutes, RGB are gain 200 45x 2m. Still needs more subs...peeping at the 100%, there is still a little noise. Imperceptible at 25% scale for IIS.

[MortonH]

Looks rather nice on my tablet!

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Morton! I actually subjected it to the tablet test before I posted :lol:

[strongmanmike]

An excellent M33 Dunk, especially from southern skies, very natural processing too, a great looking galaxy :thumbsup:

I can just make this baby out naked eye from my observatory site here just outside Canberra, my Northern sky is my darkest and lately when it transits in the early hours and with averted vision, there she is and a bit lower down, so is big'ol Andromeda. :)...not sure I'll bother hitting either of'em with the FSQ though (when I finally get it out there)...?

Mike

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Mike!

They're (just) a little easier from up here, and I had a lot of fun with the binoculars on those nights, chasing the galaxies, and of course M45 and Orion weren't far behind <sigh>

[alpal]

That's a great picture Dunk.
It's amazing to get it so sharp when it's low on the horizon.

cheers
Allan

[Octane]

That's a fabulous effort, Dunk. I've always wanted to have a go at this, but, have never had the focal length!

Well done!

H

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Allan! My best FWHM was ~3" so it's best not viewed in all its 16 megapixel "glory", but 4 megapixel looks decent.



Thanks H! Yeah the faint arms sprawl over 1 degree of space, so needs a reasonably wide FOV :D

[troypiggo]

Lovely. Nice round stars.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Troy!

[skysurfer]

Heart&Soul (req. Halpha or UHC filter)
Northern JewelBox (NGC 457)
Pacman Nebula (NGC281)

And in N. Qld (e.g. Cairns) Cas is just high enough in the summer (Dec).

[Spookyer]

good job Duncan.

Brett

[dpastern]

That looks a very nice effort to my uninformed eyes!

[Atmos]

Very nice Dunk! Even with a bad FWHM it still looks like a sharp and detailed image.
Apparently it get a whopping 22º above my horizon! I have a feeling that might be below my fence line where I'm setup.

[Camelopardalis]

Indeed...I caught the big W on my point and shoot from the beach up there a couple of years back. Next time, I'll take a scope :D

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Brett, dpastern!

Thanks Colin! Never say never...I caught Andromeda from AF a couple of years ago and that barely gets above 20 degrees...it's not perfect, but a clear crisp night can work surprisingly well.

[RickS]

That's a very respectable M33, Dunk :thumbsup: If you've got a bit of noise in the background you could head over to the dark side and do a little light noise reduction ;)

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Rick...but neeevvveeerrrr :lol:

But seriously, I don't currently have a 16MP display so it is largely irrelevant. I just know that it's there and have to learn to live with it ;)

[RobF]

That's a tough one to get right Dunk. Very nicely done :thumbsup:

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Rob!

[rustigsmed]

Very nice Dunk I'll have to migrate north one year to nab these northern objects you've done it well.

Russ

[markas]

Looks great! And from so near the horizon....

Mark

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Russ! While we have the cream of the crop of objects in the southern sky, there are a few nice northern objects...but my list is getting shorter :lol:



Thanks Mark - testament to the crisp winter sky :thumbsup: