M31 2023

[Mickoid]

This is becoming an annual pilgrimage to attempt a shot at this galaxy from down south. Last year conditions were unfavourable so I missed out, the year before that, we were in Lockdown and I couldn't leave home to visit my shooting location. On Tuesday night it was this year's turn and conditions looked very promising even though it was one of the coldest nights this winter. Great for taming sensor noise but not good for the comfort of the camera operator! I started shooting at 3.00 am and packed it in at 4.45 am. There were two reasons, A: Andromeda was getting too low for usable data and B: I thought if I don't get out of here, hypothermia will set in!

I ended up with 1hr 45 mins of data using the Esprit 100 on an HEQ5pro mount. This comprised of 105 X 1 min unguided subs @ 1600 iso with the Fujifilm XT100. Just to prove how cold it was I took a shot of my car's dash outside temperature reading. I also took a shot with my mobile phone indicating how low M31 is above the horizon from here. The yellow arrow points to Andromeda.

[xelasnave]

That is excellent work Michael and you must be extremely happy for such a great result and finally bagging M31 after such a long wait.

It surprises me that your mount worked so well and unguided to boot.

You inspired me to take a peek outside and it's starting to come up which is a big surprise as it was raining a little earlier.

AND now that the 80mm is working in its outside location I thought do it so... I made a cuppa and started getting mentally prepared but looking again I can see some cloud on the horizon ...anyways you have got me all excited:D so I hope maybe tomorrow.
Again well done.

alex

[Anth10]

Stunning Andromeda- effort well worthwhile. Love the colour this camera produces. I can see plenty of information in the swirls of this massive galaxy. You’ve got to be happy with this one.

Cheers mate.

[Mickoid]

Cheers guys, yes, pretty happy to be rewarded for the suffering I endured! Alex, you're in a better location than I was to take this so you should be able to bag a good one. You've done one before which, by memory, was pretty good, the goal will be to improve on that. Every degree further north you are will place it higher in the sky. Good luck, look forward to seeing your result.

[AstroViking]

Excellently done!

I think you need some sort of recognition of your devotion to the hobby. There's no way I'd be heading out when it's that cold. (Yeah, yeah, I'm a wimp. What of it? :P)

Given the amount of atmosphere you're imaging through, that is a fine result to capture the amount of colour and detail that you did.

Cheers,
V.

[Bodon]

Nice shot mate! Great job.

[Cyberman]

Great result Michael. I have tried to get Andromeda from up here in Brisbane, but it's still difficult from here. I shoot to the north away from the Brisbane CBD, but sky glow/ pollution is still appalling from the burbs. I was only able to get very little data. But this shot of yours encourages me to try again, Rob

[oska]

Great shot Michael. Maybe the chill helped clear the air? Fantastic result.

[Mickoid]

Thanks Steve. Ha, maybe a medal for stupidity, that's what my wife thought when I told her what I was going to do! I did my homework and decided that was the night and they're few and far between recently.

Glad you liked it Steve.

Pleased to have inspired you to give it another go Rob. Definitely find somewhere further away from Brisbane's light dome, the core is bright but the spiral arms are quite dim.

Thanks John, yes, the air was certainly crisp and a slight breeze minimised the dew and kept the fog from forming, this certainly helped with transparency.

[Doogs38]

That’s a fantastic result; it’s full of detail and colour and and your commitment is commendable. I will have try something similar, ie. get out of town, to shoot M31. Alex

[JA]

Great Job Mick on the image. Fitting it in to your filed of view would have been a careful squeeze/alignment to get the nice framing you've achieved. Well done:thumbsup:

Best
JA