M31

[RobF]

Had a couple of nice clear spring nights west of Brissie last weekend. Arrived early enough to properly map the northern horizon over and between trees and decided M31 would do-able.

Would have loved to get some Ha, but stuck to getting as much RGB in the OSC as possible over the 2 nights. Had a few goes at processing this to try preserve some of the blue regions and halo and just a hint of the beautiful bright red nebulae regions. Hope I don't end up purple-ifying it too much :question: :lol:

Included artsy starless version for fun. Thanks for looking.

Higher res (Zoomable) version here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/njjwe6SNH2DDLVgG9
Higher res starless: https://photos.app.goo.gl/joi1FnB6grJJbcAeA


122x2min subs = 244mins total - FSQ106ED/QHY247C/HEQ5Pro

[pmrid]

G'day Rob. Well done. It's a hard object at this time of year but you've nailed it nicely. The blue is elusive isn't it? Being an old %$#@ I tend away from the starless images. So I strongly favour the more traditional look.

[alan meehan]

Nicegood to see some M31 pics reminds me of Astrofest ,got to ag
ree with Peter being a old [what ever he said ] i like stars in the image well done

[alpal]

Hi Rob,
that's a great picture - it's not often that we see such
a target so low on the horizon.
It could be a little too over saturated?
I don't think the small 195 KB version does it justice.
I'd like to see the full resolution picture -
maybe a 5 MB or more version?

cheers
Allan

[RobF]

Hi Peter. Good to hear from you and hope all is well at Bribie. You're not wrong about how elusive this sucker is. 10Chain was probably about the best astro site I've come across yet for getting un-interupted time, but it is possible from Leyburn with care and timing.

I hear you on the starless - rarely floats my boat, but the wife seems to enjoy which is nice. :)

[RobF]

No worries Alan. It sure is a bit of rite-of-passage to hunt M31 over the roof and trees at Astrofest - in between risk of fog and cold. All part of the fun!

[RobF]

Thanks Alan. I'll dig up links to higher res versions and add in. My first go was ok for detail but looking at in on the phone next day realised how anaemic and washed out it was. On subsequent processing attempts felt the colours in the halo help distinguish bit of structure that is otherwise hard to discern, but at such low altitude (average 18-19 degrees) there's not really enough data to keep the noise down well - but I wanted a hint of the reds and blues hiding in there dammit! :)

If work, family and weather alllows may get bit more time and some Ha later in the year, but from past experience know that's unlikely.

[alpal]

Thanks Rob,
the high res version is fantastic.

cheers
Allan

[strongmanmike]

I recon you did pretty well here Rob, a great capture (is it a mosaic?), love the dust lanes and it looks very solid and 3D in the starless version, well done. :thumbsup:

Actually, the starless version reminds me of the dusty disc around Beta Pictoris :)

Mike

[RobF]

Thanks Mike. Was surprised and happy how far managed to push the data - was expecting the worst for chasing it over and between trees for few hours total.

Last weekend was first time I've dug into NINA's Advanced sequencer and was really impressed how well it communicates what its going to do next based on refocus criteria, time to next target (including local horizons and object elevation etc in logic). Surprisingly powerful.

FOV is what the QHY247C and FSQ @f/5 gives for single panel. Still waiting on some adapters to have a go at f/3.7 with the reducer.

Really enjoying the higher QE and FOV the CMOS camera gives over the old QHY9 (KAF8300), smaller pixels suit the refractor, and stars seem bit easier to get natural colour too. Maybe just shorter subs and different well depth. Having fun! :)

[TrevorW]

Nice one Rob :)

[strongmanmike]

Well done for sticking with it, well worth it.



Ok, sounds like a useful bit of software.



Perfect FOV for this target then :thumbsup:



All sounds very positive :thumbsup: I'm keen to get a smaller pixel camera at some stage myself, as when the seeing turns it on at Eagleview, I feel I am not getting the best resolution with an image scale of 0.84"/pix, I'm thinking I'd like something around 0.5"/pix :confuse3:

Mike

[Dave882]

That’s fantastic mate with some lovely clear detail. Well done

[RobF]

Thanks David :)