M104 with DSI-C

[Hitchhiker]

Here is M104 from Saturday night. Only 15 sec exposures because M104 was getting close to the meridian and, as I don't have a wedge, the field rotation was quite large. The image is quite noisy but some of the main features are visible.

Telescope: LX200GPS mounted Alt-Az
Camera: Meade DSI Colour

Taken with an F3.3 Focal Reducer. Captured and stacked in Envisage.

[h0ughy]

nice dust lane definition! doesn't the meade software havethe ability to transform the image for longer exposures? your giving that unit a workout!

[Robby]

Cool.... I You've got some nice detail there.

[Hitchhiker]

Yes, 'drizzle' will derotate on the fly and I did use this feature, but you have to minimise the trailing within each subframe. Because M104 was close to the meridian the field rotation is almost at a maximum and 15 seconds was about the maximum I could use (in fact there still is some trailing in the final image). If I had imaged earlier or later I could have extended the exposure time. I'm learning that when imaging Alt-Az there is a fine balance between exposure time and field rotation.

[EzyStyles]

very very nice adam! This is the guy who have shown me the way to the DSI teaching me all the basics and functions. I shall call you... MASTER.

Keep it up :)

[Hitchhiker]

Thanks for the kind words Ezy! I just gave you a few tips to get you started - you did the rest. Without your own enthusiasm, dedication and persistence you would not have got the results you have.

The DSI is a great camera to start out with - even though I don't have a wedge and exposure times are limited, some pretty decent results are achievable.