Andromeda from Sydney

[ChrisV (Chris)]

So Sunday I finally got my night to try M31. From a park in the northern suburbs of Sydney. I thought this would be a good spot as its on a ridge that overlooks national park. Unfortunately, there was a nice orange glow from Gosford. And even worse the M1/F3 motorway - this was bang on just below Andromeda. You could see the shaft of light penetrating upwards through the nightsky.

So here it is, using a UHC filter. I only managed 80min with M31 above 13deg. Had a laptop stuffup so had to restart camera cooling. And accidentally took along my UHC filter instead of a UV/IR, but maybe that helped with the motorway

41x 2min subs with ASI071, optolong UHC filter, guiding (which was chronic ~ 1.4deg rms). Captured with SGPro, processed in PI. Its a bit raw and noisy around the edges - but whatever.

I can see how Alex's (slightly more northern?) dark site really help things along!
Have a laugh at my expense. But it "is better to have imaged and lost" ... I'm wondering whetehr its worth goinf back to get some more. But weather hasn't been great - cloud issues for the past week, and now burn offs

Cheers Chris

[xelasnave]

Now come on Chris anyone can see your image is far superior to anything that I have ever done.

I would love to know where the park was as your image is pretty flash.

I am hoping to get just one more go here..My ankle prevents me driving back but not from stopping at the scope when returning from a nature call...I see it as a rest stop..so I rest for an hour and capture something.

I have news my Dad is not good and I need to go back asap but trying to drive at the moment just won't work...I want to be with him to say goodbye so it's killing me not being able to drive and walk...it's so hard to think straight as well...chatting here helps like no one can imagine. But I know he will pull thru.

Anyways you have an excellent image that I would be proud to manage even in my Northern dark site.
Well done.
Alex

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

That turned out quite well despite the elevation observed at and the issues mentioned. All up a very honorable effort - a keeper! Yeh its a little noisey but you going to get that given the location and surrounding conditions. Well done Chris - I have no doubt you will be out hunting this one again to further improve it but its pretty darn good i recon!

(PS - Alex - keep your chin up I'm sure everyone on the forum is supporting you at the minute, all the best.)

Cheers
Anthony

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Chris, you are being way too hard on yourself. That's a grand effort and I'm pleased that with the incentive hopefully gained by seeing what you, Alex and myself can achieve from these southern latitudes, more will try this wonderful galaxy. The days are numbered for getting it at it's best from down under but this week still holds some opportunities. Great result Chris and three cheers to you.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Chris
Great image and beautifully processed
A difficult DSO to capture due to its low altitude but you nailed it
Well done !!
Alex , thinking of you mate in this difficult time
Martin

[ChrisV (Chris)]

Thanks Mick. Maybe we can stack our our shots together and make something really good ! It was certainly interesting doing it. I was horrified when I saw it slew to M31 and then realise how low it actually was. I'm now looking intesnly at cloudfreenight to see when would be good to get some more. I'm really appreciating how difficult yours was from Melbourne - it must have been scraping along the grass

Originally Posted by Mickoid

Chris, you are being way too hard on yourself. That's a grand effort and I'm pleased that with the incentive hopefully gained by seeing what you, Alex and myself can achieve from these southern latitudes, more will try this wonderful galaxy. The days are numbered for getting it at it's best from down under but this week still holds some opportunities. Great result Chris and three cheers to you.

And thanks Alex, Anthony & Martin. I kept trying to squeexe it more, but ran into the brickwall of noise with such as short integration and low altitude

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Incredibly clear image and very impressive. A beautiful shot and a great commendation of your skill with a great combination of gear and location.

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

That's a very impressive M31, considering taken from Sydney, though from the northern side of the worst of the light pollution helps. Nicely framed and processed, goes to prove that even though these objects are low in the north for us, worthwhile images can be taken. Well done.

[CalvinKlein (Kelvin)]

Good result for your location. UHC would have sucked up a lot of light unfortunately. Have you considered heading west and getting up as high as you can ? I try to get up to 1000m elevation for the low northern targets - I find it makes a big difference. I'm considering getting an 071 myself so its good to see a range of different images from different shooting conditions.

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Well done Chris, I agree with the previous comments.
A very decent effort IMO. Gathering sufficient data on this target is a challenge.
Cheers,
Tony

[adiastro.photo (Adi)]

This, exactly. Excellent shot Chris!

Originally Posted by Saturnine

That's a very impressive M31, considering taken from Sydney, though from the northern side of the worst of the light pollution helps. Nicely framed and processed, goes to prove that even though these objects are low in the north for us, worthwhile images can be taken. Well done.