M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

[EnteringIntoSPACE]

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy in Lrgb
Another image in my effort to put some serious time in on popular galaxies.
Total integration time 26.5 hours.
I did shoot 5 hrs of ha and didn't find the signal very strong....what say you??
Skies bortle 7
THE TEAM!!
Scope- Skywatcher Quattro 200
Mount-Orion Atlas EQG
Guide Scope-Orion 50mm
Guide Cam- Zwo asi 290mm
Auto Focus, zwo eaf
Image Cam- asi 1600mm pro
Dew Control- Pegasus Astro Power Box
Filter- , zwo 7nm 1.25" LRGB, Optolong L pro 2"
Software...
Guiding- PHD2
Imaging- NINA
Stacking- Wbpp
Processing- Pixinsight

 

[Ben Egbert]

Wow, what a great example of a spiral galaxy. Well done.

 

[JimFox]

I think you pulled some really strong Ha detail from the Whirlpool Steve. This is really awesome. I really like what you got.

So it sounds like you shot 2 sets of Lights? One with the Optolong L Pro filter and one set with the LRGB filter? Am I reading that correct?

 

[Mike Lewis]

Very nice result! I like seeing someone else here that loves to really go deep, even on relatively bright and common objects. That being said, my image of this is one of my shorter ones, as it was a fill in object while waiting for another target to get high enough to image. I did not run Hα with my collects. I have seen some images with Hα regions showing but I am not sure it is very prevalent in this galaxy. You look to have a few knots that might be glowing in that telltale color. The blue cast is very typical of this object, and the intricate details you have achieved in both galaxies shown is very nice - those extra hours paid off on this one! Really great job!

ML

 

[Dan Moorehead]

Terrific!

 

[EnteringIntoSPACE]

I think you pulled some really strong Ha detail from the Whirlpool Steve. This is really awesome. I really like what you got.

So it sounds like you shot 2 sets of Lights? One with the Optolong L Pro filter and one set with the LRGB filter? Am I reading that correct?

Hey Jim, im actually filter stacking. i have the 2" lpro filter threaded to the coma corrector in front of my 1.25 lrgb filters in the filter wheel.

 

[EnteringIntoSPACE]

Very nice result! I like seeing someone else here that loves to really go deep, even on relatively bright and common objects. That being said, my image of this is one of my shorter ones, as it was a fill in object while waiting for another target to get high enough to image. I did not run Hα with my collects. I have seen some images with Hα regions showing but I am not sure it is very prevalent in this galaxy. You look to have a few knots that might be glowing in that telltale color. The blue cast is very typical of this object, and the intricate details you have achieved in both galaxies shown is very nice - those extra hours paid off on this one! Really great job!

ML

Thanks....i was surprised the just the red channel alone brought out what ha emissions are present. Processing my next go deep galaxy project as we speak!

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks....i was surprised the just the red channel alone brought out what ha emissions are present. Processing my next go deep galaxy project as we speak!

Very nice! I am collecting data on a few things, and working on a widefield M106. I am also grabbing ~3 hours a night while I am asleep on the Pelican as it rises very early each morning. Looking forward to the Cygnus area getting around just a little bit more to allow for some other targets there as well. Hard to find too many good nebulae for the refractor I have mounted on my remote setup these days

ML

 

[EnteringIntoSPACE]

Wow, what a great example of a spiral galaxy. Well done.

Thanks!!