M57 and galaxies galore

[raymo]

Quality not the best as very low in the sky, and short imaging window between roof and trees. Also obvious coma. Dozens of galaxies visible if you magnify your screen.
4 x 30 secs @ ISO 1600
raymo

[blink138]

had no idea there were so many galaxies around m57 raymo!
they do not seem to show up on stellarium?
pat

[Somnium]

are you sure they are galaxies Ray? they may be stars that have been elongated due to coma or collimation issues.

[blink138]

i think you may be right aiden, looking at images of m57 there are deffinately a couple of fuzzies but not that many i dont think
pat

[raymo]

I have no idea what they are; the fact that they are all orientated in the same direction told me that they weren't galaxies, and had to be artefacts
within the optical train. I thought I'd have a bit of fun, most of us would
know that there is no galaxy group anywhere near that area.
Could be a little bit of dew on the camera sensor or the scope's mirrors,
or a bit of wispy very light cloud. My collimation is pretty good.
It didn't appear on my other images that night, so I suspect cloud could
be the culprit. I just remembered that M57 got dimmer frame by frame, so I think
it must be cloud.
raymo

[Atmos]

It does look like you are getting a bit of coma and field curvature.

[raymo]

The coma is unavoidable at f/5 Colin. I think my last post clears up the mystery.
raymo

[Atmos]

I assumed that you would have been using one of those Baader Coma Correctors, the MkIII does a pretty good job :-)

[raymo]

Always wanted one, but couldn't afford one. Always something more
important to do with my pension. Aidan has very kindly said that I
can have his when his scope upgrade happens in six to nine months.
Usually my field is wide enough to allow me to crop off the worst
of it.
raymo

[Somnium]

hopefully sooner, i might have my new scope by the end of the year

[raymo]

Whenever, thank you very much indeed.
raymo

[rustigsmed]

good stuff Raymo, M57 is too low for me to attempt, it is a small object thanks for sharing.

Looks like what happens to my subs when dew/fogging occurs, softens focus and makes the coma a bit more prominent because the stars are bigger. still you've bagged the Ring neb - you could go for a tighter crop if you were inclined to.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[raymo]

Hi Russ,thanks for the comment on 6752; regarding M57, this is the hardest object of interest for me to catch. It appears, very low, between my neighbour's house and a tree for a bit under an hour. The present
image quality doesn't permit enlargement. I'll have to try again.
raymo