M93

[Placidus]

Nervous about even posting this one.

Con: Our auto-focus algorithm really struggled, finding too many very faint stars and making a mess. In the morning, we found a bloody big spider had made a web across the aperture during the night. Exposure too short to show that "golden sand" background that Mike Sidonio has perfected.

Pro: The first two hours of clear moonless sky since Fred and Wilma stalked the planet. Fits our field nicely. Shows at least three (according to Universe Today) juicy ripe red giants. Yes, that last one does it for us.

16 x 5 minute subs. FLI PL16803 on 20 inch PlaneWave.

Full field (50% reduced) is here (https://photos.smugmug.com/Category/Clusters/i-4bzLN8n/0/ec7e3089/O/M93.jpg).

Sigh.

[multiweb]

Sub zero cool. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: When did you get clear skies? Can't remember the last time here. :lol:

[Placidus]

We had two very brief, but gloriously cool and still hours. 250 Km to the East, we could see the whole Sydney skyline lit up by lightning.

[gregbradley]

An engaging image.
A few minor warts but being able to get anything lately must be gratifying.
Greg

[Ryderscope]

Ah, new image, wonderful. Definitely worth posting :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks Greg and Rodney. It was good to get something, and we do like those red giants, so long as it isn't our sun doing it.


In the interim, we figured out and fixed the problem with the auto-focus, and last night was crystal clear with excellent seeing, so things were photographed.