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Messier 51 in Canes Venatici 2020-03-15

Aberkenfig, South Wales

Lat +51.542 Long -3.593

 

Skywatcher 254mm Newtonian Reflector, Olympus E410 at prime focus. EQ6 Syntrek Mount.

 

Better known as The Whirlpool Galaxy in The Constellation of Canes Venatici.

 

A fairly reasonable outcome for such an ambitious target in a light polluted location. A demonstration of what can be achieved just using an old digital SLR and a 254mm aperture telescope. A dedicated deep sky imaging camera using longer exposures would be a better option though.

 

A night with good transparency enabled the exposure times listed.

 

5 light frames of 60s at 1600 ISO.

24 light frames of 60s at 800 ISO.

Also 5 dark frames.

 

Processed with Deep Sky Stacker and final levels adjusted with G.I.M.P.

 

 

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Uploaded on March 20, 2020
Taken on March 15, 2020