View allAll Photos Tagged data
Hi Folks,
I just published a new imaging project on my website.
Messier 101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy with the recently discovered supernova - SN2023ixf!
This target is located 21 Million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major.
This was about a 3-hour exposure in LRGB using my widefield Askar FRA400 Platform.
Everybody and their brother seems out there shooting images of this galaxy with its supernova.
And who's to blame them? Supernovae are amazing events. At the end of its life, a star explodes, releasing as much energy in one second as our Sun will emit in its entire lifetime!
This does not happen every day, and to have one in a galaxy as beautiful as the Pinwheel is worth shooting.
But with so many images of this out there - why should I shoot it tool. Do I think I can do better than everyone else? Hardly!
This is such a cool event that I did want to have one captured in my portfolio.
But during my last imaging session, my widefield Askar FRA400 Platform was the only scope that was untasked. During galaxy season, there are relatively few large targets to shoot. So I pointed it at M101 and decided to go for it!
My expectations were very low, though:
- A widefield scope shooting a galaxy - that will be a problem!
- I was only able to get 3 hours of integration - my last shot of M101 had 11 hours - so that's going to be a problem
- I am shooting with some thin smoke from the Alberta Wildfires in the air - that IS a problem.
So why shoot it at all?
- Supernovae are one the coolest events in our night sky - I wanted to capture an image of that - even a poor one!
- I saw this as an opportunity to dive into what supernovae were all about and describe that in my web write-up
- I have the twisted part of my personality that likes the challenge of getting a better image out of compromised data
I drizzle processed, then cropped like mad, and took advantage of BlurXTerminator and NoiseXTerninaor to help improve a dicey image.
The final result is not wonderful, but it is not horrible either!
The full story of this imaging project, and some cool info on supernovae, can be found here:
cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/m101-sn2023xif
Thanks,
Pat