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Observation by Mike Greenhill-Hooper: M51

Uploaded by

Mike Greenhill-Hooper

Observer

Mike Greenhill-Hooper

Observed

2023 Jun 15 - 22:00

Uploaded

2023 Jun 18 - 13:19

Objects

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

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Constellation

Canes Venatici

Field centre

RA: 13h29m
Dec: +47°12'
Position angle: -84°22'

Field size

0°17' × 0°12'

Equipment
  • Telescope: 20" f/4 Obsession Dobsonian; Paracorr corrector
  • ASI294MMPro with luminance filter (uv/IR cut)
Exposure

4x5min live stacks using SharpCap Pro with darks and flats subtraction, exposure 2s, gain 450, temp -15C

Location

Miradoux, S.W. France

Target name

M51

Title

M51

About this image

After several months of cloudy skies I grabbed a brief clearing to capture in less than 1 hour luminance data from this target.  I was hoping to use the RGB filters as well, but the clouds rolled in and a colour image will have to wait.  The object was nearly overhead and the focus assistant indicated that I was getting star widths close to the minimum, so the seeing was quite good.  Although disappointed that my evening was cut short, I am quite pleased with the detail I managed to capture in this magnificent galaxy. Being further south in latitude than the UK I hope to be able to continue imaging right through the summer if the weather permits.

The live stack images were themselves stacked and processed using Affinity Photo.

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