M45 The Pleiades

I tried something different with this because of the really bright stars and the horrible micro lensing of the 1600MM. I used 20 second exposure and tried to capture as many as I could until M45 set to low for me to continue imaging. I ended up with 560 sub frames. I was hoping I could avoid 1600MM issues and still get a decent amount of nebulosity in the image.

This took me 14 iterations of processing to arrive at an image I was somewhat happy with. Trying to balance the bright stars with the dust was a challenge.

Overall I am happy with the image with only 3hrs integration. I really want to fully capture the full extent and detail of the dust and the deep saturation of the reflection elements. I could get more deeper saturation with more integration time and with different sub lengths for a HDR processed image, maybe next year!

 

Integration Details

 

Dates:Jan. 13, 2021

Frames:

Optolong B 36mm: 125x20" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1

Optolong G 36mm: 125x20" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1

Optolong L 36mm: 185x20" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1

Optolong R 36mm: 125x20" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1

Integration: 3.1 hours

 

Equipment used

 

Imaging telescope: SkyWatcher Esprit 80ED Super APO Triplet

 

Imaging camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-P (Pro Cooled Mono)

 

Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro

 

Guiding telescope: Orion 50mm Deluxe Guidescope

 

Guiding cameras: Orion SSAG

 

Software: Sequence Generator Pro Seqence Generator Pro · PixInsight 1.8 Ripley PixinsIght

 

Filters: Optolong B 36mm · Optolong G 36mm · Optolong R 36mm · Optolong L 36mm

 

Accessory: Pegasus Astro FocusCube v2 · ZWO EFW · QHY Polemaster · Pegasus Astro Dew Master

 

More details here

 

astrob.in/5dqrww/0/

Done