M51 Whirlpool LRGB
The Whirlpool Galaxy again, this time imaged with my oldest and heaviest telescope, a Televue-85. Only one of my portable tracking mounts can handle the weight (Star Adventurer) and it's a bit of a project to use but my experimentation with a small, sensitive monochrome camera enabled me to get this satisfactory image in one night. It helps that this bright pair of interacting galaxies rides high in the spring sky in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Tech Stuff: TV-85 with Borg 1.08x flattener; QHY 5III 174 mono camera/ ZWO LRGB filters/SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Unguided 4 and 8 second exposures captured in LiveStacks using SharpCap 3.2. Total integration times L=40 min; R= 36 min; G=32 min; B= 32 min. Processed with PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of NYC on the night of April 18 (Covid Lockdown week 5), SQM-L reading 18.9/Bortle 7 sky.
M51 Whirlpool LRGB
The Whirlpool Galaxy again, this time imaged with my oldest and heaviest telescope, a Televue-85. Only one of my portable tracking mounts can handle the weight (Star Adventurer) and it's a bit of a project to use but my experimentation with a small, sensitive monochrome camera enabled me to get this satisfactory image in one night. It helps that this bright pair of interacting galaxies rides high in the spring sky in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Tech Stuff: TV-85 with Borg 1.08x flattener; QHY 5III 174 mono camera/ ZWO LRGB filters/SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Unguided 4 and 8 second exposures captured in LiveStacks using SharpCap 3.2. Total integration times L=40 min; R= 36 min; G=32 min; B= 32 min. Processed with PixInsight. Imaged from my yard 10 miles north of NYC on the night of April 18 (Covid Lockdown week 5), SQM-L reading 18.9/Bortle 7 sky.