M31 to M33 (widefield)

[RobF]

I love having a go at these 2 galaxies at Astrofest. It's so hard to get a good north horizon and dark skies in SE Qld. I was limited to shooting with the DSLR this year, but still stayed up to have a go at these 2. The fog was a fairly regular occurance this year, so there actually wouldn't have been too many nights for collecting lots of data anyway. I find the relative colour of the 2 interesting. There was a nasty gradient through this image which worsened as fog set in, but I think colours are still reasonably representative.

This is the result of 5x 5mins subs ISO 800 f/3.5 450D + f/1.8 50mm.
(sorry for spamming the forum tonight - have been catching up a bit on processing today :))

Should have also said, this is cropped down to about 80% of horizontal and 30% of vertical to emphasise the galaxies.

[gregbradley]

That's a fabulous image. Wonderful.

Greg.

[h0ughy]

like what you got

[jjjnettie]

Very nice Rob. The nifty 50 is great eh.

[Ross G]

Hi Rob,

What a great photo!

It's a shot I have always wanted to try, but thought I would have to do a 2 shot mosaic with a 135mm lens.
It's amazing the detail you have captured with the 50mm.
I'm definitely going to give it a try next new moon.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Ross.

[Lester]

Nice view Rob.

[multiweb]

Massive field. Very cool to see all those galaxies in relation to each other. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yeh, a composition you rarely see, great stuff :thumbsup:

Mike

[midnight]

Very impressive. I've always liked the field I get with my 50mm lense and the detail it is capable of.

Well done!

Darrin...

[John Hothersall]

Yes unusual sight getting these two in the same frame and great result.

John.

[SkyViking]

What a great image, and excellent framing. It's great to see them relative to each other like that, I don't recall having ever seen that. Very interesting. Thanks for the view.

[Paul Haese]

Now that is a great view. I have not seen this field of view before. It is quite nice.

[RobF]

Thanks guys (and girl :) ) . It just isn't Astrofest for me if I don't get a pic of M31 and a gawk at in binocs (and naked eye) :) Never fails to blow my mind what that "fuzz" represents.

I can't claim to be the first to think of such a framing - do yourself a favour and check out Rogelio's FSQ mosaic of this region. I can't seem to get it up on his website tonight, but I believe this is the image I was thinking of:
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/skyimage_2174_47852412

I would have shot M31 anyway, but when realised the 50mm would fit in M33 couldn't resist having a go :D

[LucasB]

That is a great shot! I also have a nifty fifty and you have insipred me to go and have a crack with it!:thumbsup:
Lucas

[desler]

Very nice indeed!

Darren

[RobF]

Thanks guys. I'd never hesitate to recommend a nifty 50 to anyone with a Canon either for astro or general use. Its killer value for money for either (or both!). :)

[Octane]

Splendid. :)

H

[Stevec35]

Very nice Rob. There seems to be a bit of star elongation in the lower right but that doesn't detract from the overall effect which is most impressive.

Cheers

Steve

[hotspur]

This a great image-well done-its perfect!

[RobF]

Thanks guys :D
Steve, yes that is the weak spot in my lens, but judicious cropping or mosaic construction usually helps. Very happy with it otherwise and I never really notice that corner with daylight shots (I'm a hack photographer though)