M83, 5.5 hours

[tornado33]

Lats night was chilly, clear and dry. 8 degrees and no dew.
I imaged M83, total of 5.5 hours.

33x10 mins ISO200. No filters. MPCC coma corrector, Hutech modded 350D full spectrum. 10 inch f5.6 newtonian. Off axis hand guided.

Transparency was pretty good for Newcastle , seeing lower down not so good but not bad near the meridian.
Larger version here
Scott

[paulF (Paul)]

Stunning image Scott
I can clearly see some far galaxies in the background

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Very nice - great job. Like everyhting about it really. Framing, colours, sharpness, detail.

[madwayne (Wayne)]

A ripper image Scott, well done. As Paul has pointed out plenty of little faint fuzzies in the background and this really makes the image in my opinion.

Wayne

[bluescope]

Very nice image ... your a brave and dedicated man doing 5.5 hours of hand guiding ... puts us auto guiding guys to shame as we sip our coffee ( or whatever ) and watch readouts on the monitor

[DavidU (Dave)]

That's a beautiful image Scott. Well done.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

mmm, dunno about 200 iso, and the colour is a bit "warm", but 5.5hrs of hand guiding , THAT is extreme dedication , 100 points just for that .

[Lester]

Yep, the hand guiding expert, top image Scott.

[DavidTrap (David)]

Very impressive, especially the roundness of the stars!

I'm having a go at M83 with my recently modded 350D at iso 400 right now. However, I'm sitting inside watching TV and surfing the net whilst the autoguider is doing its thing. A few clouds about, so I might wander downstairs and see how things are going...

DT

[RobF (Rob)]

A most beautiful image, and sensational that you've tracked accurately for so long. Puts in context all the obsessive hours many of us spend chasing "perfect" auto guiding!
Thanks for showing Scott.

[gregbradley]

5.5 hours of hand guiding - you're a legend!

Greg.

[duncan]

That's a great reward for what is really a marathon imaging session.
Wonderful result and one to be proud of!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers,
Duncan

[renormalised (Carl)]

5.5 hours of hand guiding....nope, not my cuppa!!!!

Great image

[tornado33]

Thanks all
My 1986 vintage "Sampson" mount and drive corrector was built well before autoguiding came along, and it doesnt have a DEC drive. The only "modern" part of the guiiding is that I use a Q guider camera to keep a star centred on a virtual reticle on the laptop, so I can stay seated rather then stand at the eyepiece.

Heres a reprocessed version to brihg out more inner detail.
Scott

[pvelez (Pete)]

I am blown away by this one - thanks for sharing

I'm having a shot at the same galaxy as I type - I suspect I should just pack up and go to bed now!

Pete

[Hagar (Doug)]

Very nice Scott, Your dedication to hand guide for 5.5hrs is astounding.

[h0ughy (David)]

thanks for giving me the data on friday Scott. I have given it a process tonight in Pixinsight - hope you like the results

[tornado33]

Thanks all.
Nice one Dave, nice and smooth.

[aworley (Alex)]

Scott,

Great image! .....lots of hard work and it paid off! Thx for sharing....

Alex

[Paul Haese]

Nicely guided work. I like the overall image but am not sure about the colours. The galaxy looks a little blurred too. Maybe some selective sharpening and that will bring it back up a little.

As always good star colours. Well done.