The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) in CVn

1 May 2023, 01:51 UT, Stuart, Florida USA.

Clouds: clear

Seeing: below avg 4/10

Transparency:

 

Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD telescope, f/10. QHY 294 mono camera, bin 1, 16 bit, exposure 64s, 0°C, gain ~80%, no filter, no guiding. Stacked 4 frames (livestacked in sharpcap?).

 

Image scale: 0.34 arcsec/px (Dawes Limit: 0.42 arcsec) -- oversampled.

Altitude: 69°

 

Processing: Quick and dirty processing in Photoshop (stretch, RC StarXterminator, Topaz Denoise, resize).

 

Notes: First light for new (used) telescope. Moon craters looked marvelous in spite of poor seeing. This is a snaphot of M51. f/10 is not ideal for DSOs, yet image is pleasing despite overexposure (core is blown out).

 

Try reducing exposure, setting gain & offset to recommended values, and stacking more frames. try bin 2?

 

Significant patterned noise -- hot pixels field-rotating across FOV of stacked image. Stars elongated in corners (field rotation?). ALT/AZ mount seems to work well, though very different from my EQ mount. Am going to enjoy learning this new instrument!

 

Done