103p 20101007 butcher

 NGC869 & NGC884 & COMET HARTLEY 2 
Date/Time of observation:- 2010 October 7/2240-2252 UT 
Location:- Isle of Colonsay 
Equipment used:- Stock Canon 40D with 200mm f/2.8 lens mounted piggy-back on Meade LX-90 8" telescope fitted to its field tripod by an equatorial wedge. Telescope polar aligned. Telescope driven but unguided. Telescope and camera on Mains Power. 
Exposure details:- Eleven sub-exposures each of 60 seconds taken at ISO1600. Ambient temperature 8 degrees Celsius. 
Processing details:- After quality control 10 sub-exposures calibrated with Dark, Flat-field and Bias master frames and combined in Images Plus. This image was then further processed in Photoshop CS3 and Noise Ninja. North is at the top.  
Narrative description:- New Moon at October 7 1844 UT. The weather was cool, clear and with a stiff breeze (Force 5) from the south east. The telescope was set up to the west of my house, but even so some turbulence was experienced on the leeward side of the building 
 
Martin Butcher