Galaxy Season
This is an uncalibrated image composed of 15 three-minute stacked images. I was using SharpCap for my imaging software and I made a number of dumb mistakes while using it. It's a very good astrophotography software, but there are too many bells and whistles for me. I feel like I would need to compose checklists to use it competently. I think I will stick with NINA. It has an internal logic that forces one to follow a specific workflow so dumb mistakes are harder to make. I do like SharpCap for lunar, solar, and planetary imaging.
Regardless, I'm glad I got any type of an image of the Hickson 44 galaxy group, located in the Constellation Leo, from my Bortle 7 suburban location. Light pollution makes galaxy photography difficult, even with filters. This image reminds me of what I would see while visual observing with my old 10” Dob under a dark sky.
I used a TMB80 f5.6 APO refractor and a ZWO ASI585MC (the non-Pro version). These galaxies are roughly 70 million light years away, so the light that made this image was emitted before the extinction of the dinosaurs. Blows my mind!
Here's a link to a Cloudynight article by Phil Harrington that gives a good summary of the galaxies' characteristics.
www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-...
250417_HICKSON_44_01_LABEL
Galaxy Season
This is an uncalibrated image composed of 15 three-minute stacked images. I was using SharpCap for my imaging software and I made a number of dumb mistakes while using it. It's a very good astrophotography software, but there are too many bells and whistles for me. I feel like I would need to compose checklists to use it competently. I think I will stick with NINA. It has an internal logic that forces one to follow a specific workflow so dumb mistakes are harder to make. I do like SharpCap for lunar, solar, and planetary imaging.
Regardless, I'm glad I got any type of an image of the Hickson 44 galaxy group, located in the Constellation Leo, from my Bortle 7 suburban location. Light pollution makes galaxy photography difficult, even with filters. This image reminds me of what I would see while visual observing with my old 10” Dob under a dark sky.
I used a TMB80 f5.6 APO refractor and a ZWO ASI585MC (the non-Pro version). These galaxies are roughly 70 million light years away, so the light that made this image was emitted before the extinction of the dinosaurs. Blows my mind!
Here's a link to a Cloudynight article by Phil Harrington that gives a good summary of the galaxies' characteristics.
www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-...
250417_HICKSON_44_01_LABEL