M104 Sombrero Galaxy from my NexDome

[Startrek (Martin)]

Spent 9 days down at my NexDome observatory on the South Coast NSW and was lucky enough to score 4 clear nights without the moon around with sky conditions having average seeing.
Imaged 4 objects in total , one of them being M104 Sombrero Galaxy

Bortle 3/4 Skies
10” f5 Klaus Helmerich Newtonian Reflector
Skywatcher EQ8-R pro
ZWO2600MC cooled to -10C , Gain 101
No filters ( just internal UV/IR cut protective window)
Guide scope Orion 60mm with helical focuser
Guide camera ZWO290MM
85 x 2 minute subs dithered
40 x Flats
60 x Bias
EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium
APT
PHD2 Multistar guiding ( 0.60 to 0.70 arc sec total ) this mount is capable of tighter guiding but I’m hesitant to fiddle with the Dec worm gear adjustments. My Dec axis on the western side is tight but Eastern side has some play (a micro wiggle ) Those with EQ8-R mounts , any advice ? Should I attempt to adjust the eastern side so no play or binding , I’m concerned the western side will start to bind once tightening up the eastern side. These worm gear shafts unfortunately are not Swiss watch perfection, chinese QC is non existent.
Moving on ….
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools v1.8 OSC linear data set

Astrobin link below ….

https://www.astrobin.com/3cofwx/

I did intentionally back off on the processing a bit to try and tease out more detail in the outer arms.

Native Size version
Crop version

Comments most welcome

More objects to follow when I get around to processing them

Thanks as always

Martin

[alpal]

Nice work Martin,
you've got the dust lanes fairly clear.
The only improvement I could see is to not have such hardened stars.
That could be something to do with your sharpening and not using a star mask?


cheers
Allan

[kosborn (Kevin)]

Nicely done. The dust lanes are well shown and the core is not over exposed (unlike my attempt from a while ago!).

Kevin

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Wow, look at that halo!

Love a good Sombrero...aaand a a good Margarita

Ole! nice work Martone

Mike

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by alpal

Nice work Martin,
you've got the dust lanes fairly clear.
The only improvement I could see is to not have such hardened stars.
That could be something to do with your sharpening and not using a star mask?


cheers
Allan

Thanks Allan,
Yes quite pleased with picking up the detail around the rim
I did push the Spatially Variant PSF Deconvolution in Startools a tad too hard causing the smaller stars to “white out” in the centres. This algorithm uses the stellar profiles of Star samples in an apodization mask to Deconvolve ( de blur ) the image. The image pixel size , noise floor and level of Binning also affect the outcome. It does take practice to get it spot on . We always tend to push a little harder once you expose some exciting detail
Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by kosborn

Nicely done. The dust lanes are well shown and the core is not over exposed (unlike my attempt from a while ago!).

Kevin

Thanks Kevin
This is my best capture yet of Sombrero after nearly 6 years at it
The 10” Newt and dark skies does help
Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Wow, look at that halo!

Love a good Sombrero...aaand a a good Margarita

Ole! nice work Martone

Mike

Thanks Mike
Appreciate the encouraging comments
It’s not an easy target to process
Could have been a tad brighter , just a tad
Cheers
Martin ( Andy W )

[Dave882 (David)]

That's a lovely m104 Martin well done!! Great detail in the dust and those background galaxies look wonderful too! This is one of those targets that greatly benefit from longer focal length (and good seeing) and your new newt is really performing well. I've hit the sombrero a couple of times with my c14 and was amazed by the different results between good vs average seeing.

Guiding at 0.6-0.7 is still pretty good, but on nights of good seeing your rig could certainly be a bit tighter than that probably down to 0.4-0.5 easily. My eq8 is one of the first gen models and nudging 20yrs old and has HUGE dec backlash. But even though I've adjusted the RA backlash I've never really felt the need to fiddle with the DEC as with a good 3D balance my DEC error is very good even with 35+ kg load. I suspect these eq8s can be a bit inconsistent depending where on the worm you are sitting and I certainly find the same thing and as you did, put it down to sub-par QC. Also, be very careful if you adjust things in warmer weather or during the day cause mine seems to tighten up when it's cold... I've had it binding during the night even though fine previously. From what you describe, if I were you I wouldn't touch it.

Can't wait to see some pics from those other projects!!

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Very nice work there Martin. I thought about trying this with my setup but it might be something I need to try from a dark sky. Definitely needs some decent aperture to capture the subtleties of the disk which you've managed with your 10 inch.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Dave882

That's a lovely m104 Martin well done!! Great detail in the dust and those background galaxies look wonderful too! This is one of those targets that greatly benefit from longer focal length (and good seeing) and your new newt is really performing well. I've hit the sombrero a couple of times with my c14 and was amazed by the different results between good vs average seeing.

Guiding at 0.6-0.7 is still pretty good, but on nights of good seeing your rig could certainly be a bit tighter than that probably down to 0.4-0.5 easily. My eq8 is one of the first gen models and nudging 20yrs old and has HUGE dec backlash. But even though I've adjusted the RA backlash I've never really felt the need to fiddle with the DEC as with a good 3D balance my DEC error is very good even with 35+ kg load. I suspect these eq8s can be a bit inconsistent depending where on the worm you are sitting and I certainly find the same thing and as you did, put it down to sub-par QC. Also, be very careful if you adjust things in warmer weather or during the day cause mine seems to tighten up when it's cold... I've had it binding during the night even though fine previously. From what you describe, if I were you I wouldn't touch it.

Can't wait to see some pics from those other projects!!

Thanks Dave,
Yes the 10” is a gem , so much reach , happy to be imaging galaxies
My Grandkids call it Pa’s big black telescope, it just fits inside the NexDome
I’ll take your advice and not fiddle with the worm gears
Processing the remainder of my images soon
Thanks again
Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Mickoid

Very nice work there Martin. I thought about trying this with my setup but it might be something I need to try from a dark sky. Definitely needs some decent aperture to capture the subtleties of the disk which you've managed with your 10 inch.

Thanks Mick,
Yeh dark sites are a must for Galaxy imaging
I still do it from Sydney but it’s tough and results are ordinary compared to my my dark site Obs
Cheers
Martin

[astronobob (Bob)]

That is a very cool Sombrero there Martin, background Galazies popping out real well, Details in the Hat's central areas and the rim are awesome.
Mighty fine show

[Stephane]

Nice work Martin! You’ve tamed the natural brightness of the galaxy quite well. The Sombrero is my favourite galaxy, but a challenging one. I’m currently imaging it as my first Astroworx light with about 6h so far, but might get another night or two before posting. Thanks for sharing your version.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by astronobob

That is a very cool Sombrero there Martin, background Galazies popping out real well, Details in the Hat's central areas and the rim are awesome.
Mighty fine show

Thanks Bob

The ingredients for a good galaxy image , 10” Newt + stable dark skies no moon + great camera ( 2600MC ) + plenty of data and a big of luck thrown in

Cheers
Martin

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Stephane

Nice work Martin! You’ve tamed the natural brightness of the galaxy quite well. The Sombrero is my favourite galaxy, but a challenging one. I’m currently imaging it as my first Astroworx light with about 6h so far, but might get another night or two before posting. Thanks for sharing your version.

Thanks Stephane
I’m sure you will present a great Sombrero Galaxy image when finished , even better than my humble effort

Cheers
Martin

[Garyh]

Beautiful! Nice rim detail and you have lovely diffraction spikes on your newt!

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Garyh

Beautiful! Nice rim detail and you have lovely diffraction spikes on your newt!

Thanks Gary
Appreciate your comments
Yes the spikes on my 10” are so much bigger than my smaller 6” and 8” newts, takes a while getting used to them

Cheers
Martin