NGC 5236 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

[Startrek (Martin)]

M83 using my new 8” F5 newt and EQ6-R
32 x 5 minute subs
Dithered every second sub ( low Dither )
15 x darks
ISO800
Canon 600D unmodded with Baader coma corrector
PHD2 guiding at 1.0 to 1.3 arc sec error
Warm night again , camera running at 31 deg C far too warm
Lots of noise even with minor dithering
Should have picked another object and wait for a cooler night to galaxies
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools
Extremely happy with the new rig especially the mount , it slews and tracks really well and so quiet compared to my old HEQ5 Pro Mount
Cheers

[Atmos (Colin)]

Even with the heat you appear to have a nice clean shot there Martin. Good colour too

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Colin appreciate it
My new 8” f5 newt is a great scope and real light bucket so no issue gathering photons, my issue is converting those photons into readable clean data and unfortunately the DSLR suffers on warm nights with long exposures
Last night it was 24 degrees at midnight which is unusually high for early/mid April south coast NSW
My Canon’s sweet spot is ISO 800 and sensor running below 25degC ( lower the better obviously)
Bring on winter !
I’m still extremely happy with the image though
Thanks

[Paulyman (Paul)]

Brilliant shot! Your images are always so clean and that 8” seems to be really working for you.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks so much Paul
Yeh the 8” is a winner, I’m so glad I didn’t buy the F4
I can collimate this scope in 3 minutes , so easy with upgraded primary mirror springs
According to CFN tomorrow night and Friday night are looking really good down here for at least a 4 or 5 hour window
I might go for the Sombrero galaxy as the overnight temperature is suppose to be 13 or 14 degrees 👍
Cheers

[Paulyman (Paul)]

Yeah looking like it may be clear here on Friday night. Haven’t had my scope out for over a month. Hoping for clear skies!

[xelasnave]

Great capture Martin and happy to hear you are happy with the f5 8inch.
I have mine with me but having fun with the 80mm and still things to fix...I starked a baffled dew tube for it but when I went to work on it again it had mold so I threw it out and must start again.
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Alex
This scope has exceeded my expectation in all areas
I’m currently running 5 minute subs on the Sombrero Galaxy , hope to get 3 hours worth ?
About half way through but some odd cloud clumps are drifting past and giving PHD2 a hard time , sick of hearing bling, bling !! So I turned down the volume on the laptop
Thanks again !

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Really nice image, you have some nice natural colour and detail. I Love this target and did some time on it a few years back.

Super image

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

Hi Martin
Fantastic shot of this galaxy. Its sharp, theres heaps of detail and the colours are perfect. You really got some good imaging equipment and know how to use it. Actually I've now got aperture envy! I think its one of those cases where i wish i had another 2 inches.
Its handy to see the same target posted at the same time so now I know what level to bring my images up to.
Cheers
Andy

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Carl and Andy
Appreciate the kind words
One of the most exciting things about this hobby is there’s always something new to discover and learn. Whether it’s finding new objects, using new equipment or trying different procedures. It’s an amazing hobby to be involved with
Cheers