View allAll Photos Tagged DeepSkyStacker
Ambas feitas com 8 lights + 8 darks e 8 bias, empilhados no Deep Sky Stacker. Utilizei a t3i e a 24mm, com ISO 1600, f/ 2.8 e exp de 15 e 20seg.
The Milky Way's sibling looked really pretty this morning. Autumnal air made for good observing conditions. Photographed from Huntsville, AL.
I'm actually pleased as I can be with this image. It is the culmination of a lot of trial and error,and some (possibly unreproducible) experimentation with post processing.
The field flattener, better focus and longer exposures at lower ISO yielded a nicer image, by far my best to date.
Best 9 of 10 images stacked with DeepSkyStacker.
ISO 400
Exposure 90 seconds.
Prime focus through an Explore Scientific 80mm APO ED refractor.
Canon T3i, unmodded
Celestron Advanced VX equatorial mount.
Dark frames and light frames only.
Never done this one before for some reason, and it's quite bright up there in Orion. And it does look remarkably like a monkey head, it has to be said. This is 25 x 300 sec subs. Looks better in hubble, and I'll do that one day :)
If we get many more clear nights I'm going to run out of targets. Not complaining of course! :)
Taken with a TMB92L, Canon T3i DSLR, Orion SSAG autoguider and 50mm guidescope, and Celestron AVX mount. Consists of 35 120-second light frames and 35 120-second dark frames, all at ISO 800, as well as 20 flat and 50 bias frames. Captured with BackyardEOS, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Photoshop.
Still practicing with my new SCT and focuser. I had horrible coma in my first image, but I went a long way towards fixing the collimation with this one. Still needs better collimation though, so that'll be my next step.
49 × 120s Lights
20 × 120s Darks
20 × 1/8000s Bias
20 × Flats
Celestron CG-11 SCT
f/6.3 FR
G11 Mount
Orion Starshoot AG
BackyardEOS
PHD
DeepSkyStacker
Canon 5D Mark II
Skywatcher 72ED apo with field flattener,SX Trius 694/filterwheel/OAG (Lodestar) riding on CEM60.
Six 10 minute subframes captured through Ha and OIII filters,stacked in Deepskystacker and colour combined (Ha,OIII,OIII) in Maxim DL4. Processed in Astroart 8 and PS CS2.
Taken 31/10/21
The Jellyfish Nebula IC 443 aka Sh2-248 is a supernova remnant hanging up there in Gemini. It's about 5k light years from us.
Having put a post on my fb page looking for an alternative to DSS, DSS got its revenge. It spat out junk every time I stacked this until, in exasperation, I purchased a copy of Nebulosity. DSS then stopped assing about and gave me a reasonable stack. Spooky.
Anyway, this is 28 x 8 minute subs under my light polluted skies, so is a decent result :)
Mars passing through M44 the Beehive star cluster on June 2nd. Through smoke and light pollution has a lucky chance and just enough time for some quick images as clouds cleared and a a large area of clouds just arriving for the weekend were approached. Taken with Williams Optics GT71,Canon T7i, Processed DeepskyStacker/PS.
OTA: Sigma Art 135mm, @f/2.8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM
Exposure: Ha 6x10min, Oiii 10x10min, synthetic green
Filters: Baader CMOS-Optimized Ultra-Narrowband
Mount: CEM70G
Captured with SGP
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (light pollution zone: red)
Using a Minolta MC Rokkor 135mm F2.8; 25 frames with 8 darks stacked in DeepSkyStacker. Each frame F2.8 / ISO1600 / 4s
NGC 6946, (also known as the Fireworks Galaxy, Arp 29, and Caldwell 12), is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 18 million light-years away, in the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. It was discovered by William Herschel on September 9, 1798. NGC 6946 is highly obscured by interstellar matter of the Milky Way galaxy, as it is quite close to the galactic plane. The diameter of the galaxy is approximately 40,000 light-years or just about a third of the size of the Milky Way.
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90 SCT Telescope, Antares Focal Reducer, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 108 x 60 seconds, Celestron CGX-L pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: July 29, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Knife Edge galaxy.
Sometimes referred to as the Silver Needle galaxy. Though this can get confusing as NGC 4244 also carries this nickname. You can find NGC 5907 in the constellation of Draco, as William Herschel did way back in 1788 for the first time.
At a mere 50 million light years distance NGC 5907 is the home of the groundbreaking pulsar NGC 5907 X-1. www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/The_brighte...
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -20c gain 100, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
120s exposures.
Best 70% of 45 light frames.
Darks, Flats & Bias.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in StarTools
This dark nebula resides in the constellation Ophiuchus and resembles the shape of a smoking pipe (pretty sure they named this one in the '60s).
It features a prominent lane of dark dust obscuring the countless stars behind it.
This deep-sky object is visible to the naked eye under pristine, dark sky conditions (use binoculars for the best view)!
I took this photo using my portable astrophotography setup from the southern hemisphere - where it gets much higher in the sky than it does from home!
Equipment Used:
Camera: amzn.to/3Wtt1rt (modified)
Telescope/Lens: bit.ly/46pr1Uf
Tracker: bit.ly/3xNnEcI
Image Details:
40 x 60 seconds at ISO 3200
DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop, PixInsight
I already was all too happy to bring out the reflection nebulae in M45 for the first time recently, after a long period with lousy weather. Then good luck struck twice, allowing me to double my exposure time, and also to reduce the walking noise in the stacked image I experienced the first time by some manual DEC dithering fun. Quite some work, but the things you do for pretty pictures... (on top of freezing and lack of sleep of course, heh).
Indeed spending that extra work gave a huge boost to the final image quality, and I also think I hit the spot better with post-processing this time around.
So what you see here are a total of 2.5 hours of exposure with the TAIR 3S (@ f/5,6) over two nights, after discarding some subs that suffered from either tracking errors or gusts of wind (but with overall good success rate).
EXIF:
Camera: Samsung NX 30 (unmodified)
Lens: TAIR-3S 300 mm f/4,5 (stopped down to f/5.6)
Exposure: 300 x 30 s @ ISO 3200
Processing: stacking with Deep Sky Stacker, initial processing with Fitswork, touch-up and cosmetics with Aurora HDR 2018 and Luminar 2018.
The Ring Nebula (also cataloged as Messier 57, M57 and NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. The tiny white dot in the center of the nebula is the star’s hot core, called a white dwarf. M57 is about 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.
Right ascension: 18h 53m 35.079s
Declination: +33° 01′ 45.03″
Distance: 2567±115 ly
Apparent magnitude (V): 8.8
Apparent dimensions (V): 230″ × 230″
Constellation: Lyra
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90 SCT Telescope, Antares Focal Reducer, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 3 hours 43 minutes using 60 second exposures, Celestron CGX-L pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: July 5, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Not my favourite subject, but not a lot up there at the moment, and we had a couple of clear nights :)
Five sessions between 1-29 April 2013 - total 10 hours 38 minutes. I don't think giving the total exposure is of much help to anyone really, as the result depends on so many factors, not least the quality of your skies (pretty low in my case). But it at least demonstrates how much effort has been expended :)
And the stars are almost round :)
SW ED80/EQ5
Nikon D70 modded, Baader Neodymium filter
159 subs, 3-6 mins, iso 800, total 10 hours 40 minutes
Guiding: Quickcam Pro4000/9x50 finderscope, PHD
Stacked in DSS (2 x drizzle) and processed in CS5.
There are a few stars in this image, but most of the faint fuzzy blobs are part of a supercluster of galaxies about 1 billion light years away.
62 x 1-minute unguided exposures at ISO 6400. Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" f/4 Newtonian reflector telescope.
Frames registered and stacked in DeepSkyStacker software; curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; noise reduction in CyberLink PhotoDirector.
OTA: Sigma ART 135mm @ f/2.8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM
Exposure: H-alpha 14x5min, O3 12x5min
Mount: CEM70G
Unguided
Captured with SGP
Registered and stacked with DeepSkyStacker
Photographed from Round Rock TX (light pollution zone: red)
Astro beginner, removed 2 frames with trailing stars, Orions Belt, with flame and horse head nebula taken 22-2-2021. 70 lights (images) & 15 dark's stacked in Deep Sky Stacker & post processed in Photoshop.
Eta Ursae Majoris (Alkaid or Benetnash) is a star in the constellation Ursa Major. Alkaid is the eastern star in the Big Dipper asterism (the handle edge star).
Magnitude: 1.84, Surface Temperature: 16,820 K, Mass: 6.1 Solar mass, Apparent magnitude: 1.84
This image of Alkaid is composed of four 30-second exposures. I used a Canon 6D and 400mm lens attached to an iOptron ZEQ mount. Diffraction spikes added using fishing line on the front of the lens. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, stretched in ImagesPlus and final image edit done in Corel Paintshop Pro.
You can follow my blog at leisurelyscientist.com
Takahashi TOA-130NFB
Nikon D810A
Paramount MX
10x180" ISO1600
18x360" ISO1600
DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop CC
2015/11/10 合歡山
On January 23, 2022, we've had a rare clear and calm night, so I tried my luck at the Pleiades cluster (M45) with the TAIR-3S (300 mm f/4.5, stopped down to f/5.6) on the Star Adventurer tracker. This is my longest exposure of any object so far, totaling out just short of 1:15 hours (I'm still a beginner after all). Polar alignment worked out really nice this time, and I think I'm also slowly better at minimizing chromatic aberration. I like how I was able to already bring out quite some part of the reflection nebulae, and how diffraction at the aperture blades of the lens makes the iconic "seven sisters" stand out.
However, now I'm running into new problems, namely a rather ugly, stripey background after stacking; probably some fixed-pattern or "walking" noise, which amplifies due to the good polar alignment (i.e., practically no declination drift) with simultaneous RA tracking jitter of the mount. Ah well... probably means I have to open a new can of worms and get into dithering now (this is going to be fun with a non-motorized declination axis...). Still managed to get rid of the worst of the striping during post-processing, also since the stripes were rather regular and well aligned along the RA direction.
EXIF:
Lens: TAIR-3S 300 mm f/4.5, stopped down to f/5.6
Camera: Samsung NX30 APS-C, unmodified
Filter: Rollei Astroklar light pollution filter
Acquisition:
147 x 30 s (1:13:30) @ ISO 3200
100 darks, 25 flats, 15 flat-darks, no bias/offset frames
(I actually tried bias/offset calibration, but had the impression it rather made the image quality worse, so I kicked the frames out again)
Stacking: Deep Sky Stacker
Post-processing: fitswork
final touches: Aurora HDR 2018, Luminar 2018
Combinaison dans Deepskystacker des deux sessions des 21 (www.flickr.com/photos/achrntatrps/27732771798/in/album-72...) et 22 (www.flickr.com/photos/achrntatrps/27897011018/in/album-72...) avril. 2 heures de pose environ.
Pour le matériel utilisé, voir sous les images en lien.
When I took out our garbage tonight, I saw the moon high above. So I took a series of shots handheld with my camera. I then looked for a stacking software for astrophotography. I found this freeware called DeepSkyStacker. You could do something pretty advanced. I played around with the tool and filtered out those frames that were slightly blurry. I then used Topaz AI Sharpen to refine the focus of the image. This is the end result. If view closer, you might see some artifacts. But at least you could probably name a few craters on the surface of the moon.
Camera: Sony A6300
Lens: Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
This is the first long exposure image I've taken since acquiring a new kit a couple of months ago, and even though it didn't go according to plan, it does show the incremental progress I was counting on.
I got the new DSLR shutter release remote working for the first time, and was hoping for several hours of data. What I did get was 16x180s decent exposures out of 32 taken before the laptop, hence the guider, shut down on me, and having forgotten to charge the backup batttery (so many things to keep in mind for a newby!), my night was done without even getting any dark images, bias or lights, to calibrate the final image.
Half my images were useless from star trails, probably from a jostling of the tripod that I thought was not as serious as it seemed to turn out, and even this image shows signs of it.
So this is 16 stacked images of 3 minutes each (1600iso) with some adjustment in DeepSkyStacker to acquire contrast, with some false blue added in a totally inadequate microsoft photo editor, because my wife won't let me get Adobe Photoshop CC until Christmas!
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49 or Sharpless 275) is a large spherical ionized atomic hydrogen region (H II region) that is circular in appearance and located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter (from Wikipedia). The nebula is about 5,200 light-years away and spans nearly 65 light-years. This version has been processed using the Hubble Palette and the stars have been removed from the image..
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension: 06h 33m 45s
Declination: +04° 59′ 54″
Distance: 5,200 ly
Apparent magnitude (V): 9.0
Apparent dimensions (V): 1.3 °
Constellation: Monoceros
Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at -10F, total capture 5 hours and 30 minutes using 300-second exposures, Optolong L-eXtreme 2” filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: February 4, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Taken with a Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG at 200mm and f/6.3, Canon T3i DSLR, and Celestron Advanced VX mount. Consists of 100 light and 43 dark frames, each a 60-second exposure at ISO 3200. Captured with BackyardEOS, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and processed in Photoshop.
Fujifilm X-T10, Samyang 135mm f/2.0 @ f2.0, ISO 1600, 33 x 60 sec, tracking with iOptron SkyTracker Pro, stacking with DeepSkyStacker, editing with Astro Pixel Processor and GIMP, taken Nov 1 under Bortle 3/4 skies.
I love imaging Orion. My goal with this shot was to include the Flame and Horsehead Nebulae, Barnard's Loop, Messier 78, and Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622, the Boogeyman Nebula (upper left). It seemed like a good target for Halloween night.
Manually, off-axis guided for 11 x 5-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/4.
Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; final noise reduction using CyberLink PhotoDirector.
⇒ This wide-field image was taken with a telephoto lens set to 147 mm focal length on a motorized equatorial mount.
⇒ The total exposure time is 40 minutes, composed of a superposition of 20 pictures 120 seconds using the #DeepSkyStacker software.
⇒ This area of the sky is rich in nebulae. Besides, in this picture we can see (click on the high resolution image):
-> The famous Orion Nebula (M42) on the top left with its neighbor NGC 1973
-> Nebula Horse Head (IC 434)
-> Flame Nebula (NGC 2024)
-> Nebula M78
Technical details:
20 x 120 secs exposure time
F / 6.3 aperture
ISO 1600
147 mm focal length
Canon EOS 600D + Tamron 70-300 lens
Light enhancement with Lightroom software.
How do you find it ?
*********************/ French Translation \**************
Voyage dans le complexe d'Orion [Astrophotographie]
⇒ Cette image grand champ a été prise avec un téléobjectif réglé à 147 mm de focale sur une monture équatoriale motorisée.
⇒ Le temps d'exposition total est de 40 minutes mais il a été décomposée en une superposition de 20 photos de 120 secondes à l'aide du logiciel #DeepSkyStacker .
⇒ Cette région du ciel est très riche en nébuleuses. D'ailleurs, sur cette image nous pouvons voir (cliquez sur l'image haute résolution) :
--> la célèbre nébuleuse d'Orion (M42) en haut à gauche avec sa voisine NGC 1973
--> la nébuleuse de la tête de cheval (IC 434)
--> la nébuleuse de la flamme (NGC 2024)
--> la nébuleuse M78
Détails techniques :
20 x 120 secs d'exposition
F/6.3 d'ouverture
ISO 1600
147 mm de focale
Canon EOS 600D
Imaged from a local beach, which has a less obstructed and slightly less light-polluted view compared to my back garden.
14 x 2-minute exposures at f/4 and ISO 3200. Astro-modified Canon EOS 600D and Leica Summicron 50mm f/2 lens on a Vixen Polarie star tracker.
Frames stacked in DeepSkyStacker software; curves and colour balance adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; noise reduced using Cyberlink PhotoDirector.
WilliamOptics Star71 + QHY16200A(-0C) 4x300sec
FSQ106ED + QE0.73X + EOS6D(SEO-SP4) 5x300sec (Ambient +27C) ISO1600
on SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6GT
(Total:45min)
Guiding: OAG9 + OrionSSAG
RAP2, DeepSkyStacker, StellaImage7, Photoshop CC2015
Locations: Kamogawa Sports Park, Kibichuocho, Okayama, Japan
Jul. 2016
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), photographed at 500mm f/4, 27 frames stacked uusing DeepSkyStacker. The 'anti-tail' can just be seen at lower right of frame. Frames exposed 1 sec at f/4, ISO 1600.
From the Eagle and Omega nebulae at left, via Trifid and Lagoon to NGC6357 (Madokami?) and Cat's Paw Nebulae. The upper right corner of this image was at only 11 degrees above the horizon here in Portugal. This is the B panel used for a mosaic. Primalucelab Canon 700Da Cooled to -10 C with CanonSmall 40mm pancake lens (f2.8 @ f4.0) 61x60sec iso1600 40mm f4 30D 20F 140B. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed with Pixinsight.
Knight Observatory, Tomar
Located 6,500 light years away in the constellation of Taurus. This spectacular planetary nebula is what's left of a star that Chinese astronomers witnessed going supernova in the year 1054, reported to have been visible in the daytime for up to 4 weeks!
First discovered by John Bevis in 1731 and then later by Charles Messier, who mistook it for Halley's comet. Leading him to create a list of objects that weren't comets, so he wouldn't be wasting his time on them. This list is known today as the Messier catalogue.
Data was captured at The Astronomy Centre, Todmorden, UK on 10th of November 2023.
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c gain 100, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
Darks, Flats & Bias.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in PixInsight & Affinity Photo.
Messier 20 and Messier 8 (and Saturn)
Geeky info:
Nikon D800 with 300mm F4 lens
iso 3200
eq 3-2 mount
no filter, no guiding
Total exposure time: 50 minutes
Bortle 4
During my wide field imaging session on March 29, 2016 of the Messier pair M108 (Surfboard Galaxy) and M97 (Owl Nebula), I also caught a view of NGC 3631 in the lower right corner of the view. After zooming in on the galaxy, I noticed a bright star in one of the spiral arms, further investigation showed that this was, in fact, a supernova, SN2016bau, discovered on March 3, 2016 by Ron Arbour.
The wide field unprocessed image (available to view on my blog) shows the stacked, full frame, 10-minute exposure using a Canon 6D and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens mounted on an iOptron ZEQ25 mount. 10 x 60 seconds at ISO 3200, stacked in DeepSkyStacker and further processed in Adobe Lightroom and ImagesPlus.
The clipped, zoomed and enlarged image is from the full frame view. I used a reference image of galaxy NGC 3631 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to show the galaxy without the supernova. The spiral galaxy is about 50 million light year away.
A tricky one to image, as it is very low in the sky from the UK.
13 x 1-minute unguided exposures at ISO 3200, f/4. Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Messier 92 (also known as M92, M 92, or NGC 6341) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules. Located 27,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hercules, this globular cluster was first discovered by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1777. With an apparent magnitude of 6.3, M92 is one of the brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way and is visible to the naked eye under good observing conditions. It can be most easily spotted during the month of July. The cluster is very tightly packed with stars, containing roughly 330,000 stars in total. (REF: science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night...)
Tech Specs: Orion 8” RC Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 115 x 60 second exposures, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DeepSkyStacker and PixInsight software. Image Date: May 2, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
- www.kevin-palmer.com - It was my first time testing out a Nikon 50mm f1.4 Nikkor AF-D lens that I recently bought. This image is a stack of 15 6-minute exposures (90 minutes total) along with 5 dark and bias frames. An iOptron Skytracker was used to track the stars.
The Cygnus region of the milky way contains many colorful nebulae, star clusters, and clouds of interstellar dust. When there are this many stars it's always hard to pick out the constellations, so I drew in the lines myself. Deneb is the bright star on the upper right near the North America nebula.
37 x 120 seconds for a total of 74 minutes of data.
Shot with Sony a7RIII and Nikon 105mm f/2.5 at f/4. Camera piggybacked on a Celestron optical tube and CGEM mount that was polar aligned. No autoguidng was used.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with Photoshop. I'm still learning a lot about astrophotography. It sure is fun though.
Manually, off-axis guided for 7 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/4.
Modified EOS 600D & Revelation 12" Newtonian reflector telescope. The halo and spikes around the bright star at lower right are imaging artefacts.
Registered and stacked using DeepSkyStacker; initial curves adjusted in Canon Photo Professional; final curves & colour-balance adjusted using Paint Shop Pro; noise reduction via CyberLink PhotoDirector.
Location: Killygordon, Co. Donegal, Ireland.
Time: 22:00 - 00:00
Date: 21 Sep 2012
Target: Andromeda Galaxy
Exposures: 8 x Five minute exposures (12Darks) Flats
Equipment:
Mount- Celestron CG5-GT (unguided)
Camera- Self-modified Canon 1000D
Telescope- Celestron Oynx 80ED
Additional- Astronomik cls clip LP filter.
Stacking & Processing: DeepSkyStacker & Photoshop CS5
NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. J. L. E. Dreyer, the author of the New General Catalog, described it as, "very bright, large, very much extended 151°, very suddenly much brighter middle equal to 10th magnitude star". Initially thought to be about 30 million light-years distant, a 2001 Hubble Space Telescope survey of the galaxy's Cepheid variables determined its distance to be approximately 46 million light-years. (Wikipedia)
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation: Ursa Major
Right ascension: 09h 22m 02.655s
Declination: +50° 58′ 35.32″
Distance: 46.0 ± 4.9 Mly
Apparent magnitude (V): 10.1
Tech Specs: Orion 8” RC Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 355 x 60 seconds (5 hours and 55 minutes), Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: February 4, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
This is ye olde Andromeda Galaxy -- nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way (approx 2.5 million ly away). It's apparently similar to ours in size and structure. M31 is so bright that it can be seen with the naked eye from dark skies, and I regularly catch it through binoculars even from downtown Toronto. It's so huge that it doesn't fit in the field of view of my CCD! Andromeda also has a couple of companion galaxies -- M32 is the small one in the upper portion of the frame, and M110 is peeking into the frame at lower left.
This was my first stab at LRGB using the QHY9 as panchromatic Luminance (with IDAS light pollution filter) and an old DSLR image from my Canon as RGB. I'm not thrilled with the colour balance, but the LRGB detail enhancement worked out pretty well.
Forgot to use the FLT field flattener on this one.
12x10 minute frames of luminance with the QHY9 cooled @ -25degC, 18x5min frames of RGB colour with the old Canon 350D. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in PS CS2.