AndrewSingleton
M63 Sunflower
A spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, also in the M51 (whirlpool) group about 29 million light years away.
40 240s lights (2 hours 40 minutes) with flats and bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box and a white t-shirt.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, edited in Star Tools and cropped in PS Lightroom.
Moon: Around about new
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Average/Not Great
Notes: - A difficult target perhaps for my equipment and the time of year. I took it over 2 nights which gave me about 3 hours each night and I had to scrap a load of frames. I don’t think the seeing was as good as previous astronomy sessions. I’m not willing to give this anymore time at the moment and I want to try something else. I will perhaps try again in March or April in the future when there is still actual night time.
The remote shutter cable for the D3100 is flimsy and yet again this broke meaning I had to order a new one. I’ve also ordered one that will go into the snap port in the mount. I really want to consolidate the amount of software I use to take these pictures and improve on the automation. I think I’ve finally found something that may work called NINA so I am excited to try that out.
M63 Sunflower
A spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, also in the M51 (whirlpool) group about 29 million light years away.
40 240s lights (2 hours 40 minutes) with flats and bias. Dithered.
Telescope: - Skywatcher 130PDS Newtonian.
Camera: - Nikon D3100.
ISO: 400. Automated white balance
Filters: - Baader Mark-III MPCC Coma Corrector. IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter
Flats taken with a Huion L4S Light Box and a white t-shirt.
Wireless Remote: PIXEL TW-283 DC2 2.4G.
Mount: - Skywatcher EQ6R.
Guiding: Skywatcher EvoGuide 50ED & ZWO ASI120MM-Mini.
Polar Aligned with SharpCap Pro.
Control Software: - Stellarium Scope, Stellarium, Poth Hub, EQMOD, All Sky Plate Solver, PHD Guiding 2 and PHD Dither Timer.
Processing Software: Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, edited in Star Tools and cropped in PS Lightroom.
Moon: Around about new
Light Pollution and Location: - Bortle 8 in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Seeing: - Average/Not Great
Notes: - A difficult target perhaps for my equipment and the time of year. I took it over 2 nights which gave me about 3 hours each night and I had to scrap a load of frames. I don’t think the seeing was as good as previous astronomy sessions. I’m not willing to give this anymore time at the moment and I want to try something else. I will perhaps try again in March or April in the future when there is still actual night time.
The remote shutter cable for the D3100 is flimsy and yet again this broke meaning I had to order a new one. I’ve also ordered one that will go into the snap port in the mount. I really want to consolidate the amount of software I use to take these pictures and improve on the automation. I think I’ve finally found something that may work called NINA so I am excited to try that out.