M104 - Sombrero Galaxy

[Matty P (Matt)]

I just finished processing these images that I captured last night after imaging Eta Carinae.

All Taken with my Celestron 8SE SCT with f/6.3 focal reducer and Canon 450D at ISO 1600. Stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS3.

M104 = 12 x 30 second subs

Total exposure = 6 minutes

Thanks for looking.

[theodog (Jeff)]

Nice one Matty.
Just imaging that myself.
Not quite the wide field 'though.
60sec Lum med filter
midway through a 5 min

[Alchemy (Clive)]

good for short subs, a little bit longer might bring a bit more detail out perhaps.... everyone tries to get a hint of the internal dust lanes...... longer might do it .

[Matty P (Matt)]

Thanks guys,

Jeff, great looking Sombrero you got there. Looking forward to the final result.

Alchemy, I would love to capture longer subs but because I am using a Alt-Az mount I don't think it will work.

BTW I think my Sombrero is upside down.

[Ric]

Nice capture Matty, the cental dust lane is showing up quite nicely.

Cheers

[Matty P (Matt)]

Thanks Ric,

I would of liked to stacked a lot more subs to bring out the central dust lane but for some weird reason out of about 40+ subs only 12 were suitable for stacking.

[Ric]

Hi Matty, I'm curious as to what was the reason for the others not being suitable for stacking.

Cheers

[Matty P (Matt)]

Originally Posted by Ric

Hi Matty, I'm curious as to what was the reason for the others not being suitable for stacking.

Cheers

Hi Ric,

The ones that were not suitable for stacking had severe star trails due to bad tracking.

[Ric]

No worries Matty, I'll bet your champing at the bit to get that EQ6.

I suppose that will open up a new set of challenges though.

Cheers

[Matty P (Matt)]

Originally Posted by Ric

I suppose that will open up a new set of challenges though.

I'm just looking forward to the day when my images will have round stars.

For now, I'm quite happy with elongated stars.

[winensky]

Good clean image. I understand the tracking issues. I am running at about 50% for 1 min and 30% for 90s. suitable subs. I think yours is an Alt-Az mount but if its EQ, they can sometimes be too well balanced and need a bit of loading to maintain a steady image.

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

Hi Matty,

I was observing M104 visually last night. Your image captures the visual apperance from the suburbs of Brisbane very nicely.

I love images that remind me of the view through the eyepiece

Have fun,
Doug

[Matty P (Matt)]

Originally Posted by edwardsdj

Hi Matty,

I was observing M104 visually last night. Your image captures the visual apperance from the suburbs of Brisbane very nicely.

I love images that remind me of the view through the eyepiece

Have fun,
Doug

Thanks Doug,

Before taking this image I was observing M104 visually for a while. Even under a full moon M104 was clearly visble. It is always great when your image captures what you would see through an EP.

When I get an EQ mount. I hope to image M104 without the f/6.3 focal reducer for a more in your face view.