M31 from VicSouth, Nhill.

[Andy01]

My attempt at the near impossible. :D

M31 rises to a maximum altitude of 10.7 degrees above the Horizon, between 10.30 pm & just 7.5 degrees when it drops back below the trees at 1.00am

I was at a star party at Nhill, NE Victoria, so I thought heck, it fits nicely in my FOV and I could never attempt this from Melbourne so why not try to image this thing anyway!
(although LRGB is waaaayyy out of my usual NB comfort zone)

Although my 'scope was almost horizontal & I had to keep asking my colleagues to duck their heads when passing by. :P

A real challenge to shoot & process, using every trick in the book and few learned on the fly/made up as I went along - still some NQR stars there so don't pixel peep too closely!

HighRes HERE (http://www.astrobin.com/270394/0/)

9x300sec Lum, 11x300sec B, 7x300sec G & 6 x 300sec R over two nights.

Thanks for looking, hope you like it :)

[gaseous]

Fabulous photo Andy!

[JA]

It's wonderful - Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Placidus]

That's like photographing something underground! :thumbsup:

[Atmos]

Still looks great nice Andy! I think I'd want to head WAY zip north before even considering to attempt it :P

[John K]

Great image Andy! Even for so low in the sky still has come up the money.

John K.

[alpal]

Hi Andy,
that's a great result considering how low in the sky it is.

cheers
Allan

[marc4darkskies]

10.7 degrees maximum alt?! That's downright masochistic Andy! :lol: Not bad considering though! :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Cheers Marcus, Hey we all gotta push ourselves out of our comfort zones sometimes :)

Thanks also to Patrick, JA, John K, Alpal, Colin & M&T for your kind encouragement - Might try an easier target next time though!

Cheers
Andy

[strongmanmike]

A great Victorian Andromeda :thumbsup:

Mike

[Regulus]

This is a really nice M31 as it stands. Given you geo-location, it's a miracle M31.
Really well done Andy.

Trev

[Andy01]

Cheers Mike & Trev - I'm happy with the result but it sure wasn't easy! :screwy:
Back to NB Nebulas for this little black duck :D

[Stevec35]

Considering the altitude Andy, that's superb! My limit for masochistic imaging is generally 30 degrees above the horizon.

Cheers

Steve

[SimmoW]

We gotta setup a masochistic imaging group! I once did the North American neb, thats also insanely low

[gregbradley]

That's a terrific M31 for Aussie. Well done.

Greg.

[Shiraz]

talk about hard work! but it was definitely worth doing - a great result.

[RickS]

Definitely pushing the boundaries, Andy. I've done M31 from Leyburn and got a halfway reasonable result but that's 8 or 9 degrees further North.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Retrograde]

Holy Hell Andy. M31 from Victoria?

Astounding. :prey2:

[Andy01]

Thanks Steve, Greg, Ray, Rick, Simmo & Pete.

Maybe there should be an annual challenge for imaging the lowest object above the horizon!

Nah, just kidding - but thanks heaps for your kind words & positive feedback on this project.

I also had a go at the Veil, but only managed 1x20min O3 sub & 2x x20min Ha - it's not much data but here it is anyway.

Cheers

Andy

[Atmos]

You've done a very nice job with that data though!

[Decimus]

What a stunning image of my favourite galaxy - fantastic work, Andy!
Cheers,
Richard