Observation by Andrew Jeffries: Bode's Galaxy

Uploaded by

Mr Andrew Jeffries

Observer

Andrew Jeffries

Observed

2020 May 14 - 22:00

Uploaded

2020 May 20 - 07:44

Objects

M81

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Constellation

Ursa Major

Field centre

RA: 09^h55^m
Dec: +69°15'
Position angle: +98°09'

Field size

1°09' × 0°39'

Equipment

Skywatcher explorer 200p
HEQ5 pro
Canon EOS 550D (unmodified)
Coma Corrector
Stellarmate

Exposure

40 lights 60s, 20 Darks, 20 Bias, 20 Flats,

Location

South East Wales

Target name

M81,M82

Title

Bode's Galaxy

About this image

Lock down has meant I've been getting to grips with the Stellarmate astrophotography tool and having now got it working so that I could trust it to give me a good evening's viewing, I decided to go for broke and take a stack of images of this galaxy pair. I've always known the more images you take the better. But I had never really appreciated the impact flats and bias frames would have until I took this image. The Stellarmate gadget has really made it easy to capture images I use the app on my tablet and can set up a complete astrophotography run and then step back and observe with my Skymax 127 as well. Stellarmate's astrometry feature means plate solving can now ensure targets are better centered, or not, if required compositionally, so it makes astrophotography easier.

Processing was stacking in Deep Sky Stacker, main processing in Gimp, finishing touches in Photoshop elements and Neat image to tidy up some of the image noise.

Files associated with this observation

M81_Web.jpg (1.4 MB)

Like this image

Jeremy Shears, Ray Emery, Dr Paul Leyland, Callum Potter, Andy Wilson, Graham Winstanley, Martina McGovern, Alan Thomas

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