The_Green_Ninja's photostream  

The Whirlpool Galaxy in Ursa Major - I wasn't going to post this as it is has more flaws than the Phantom Menace.

This image proves that I can capture faint objects with existing kit, but sadly it also shows big issues with my capture techique. This was 20 second exposures at ISO1600 - I think too high an ISO and too short a shutter speed. When I hit 30 seconds at the same ISO sky glow and drifte were apparent - drift I can fix, sky glow I can't!

Mind you this is some 23 Million Light Years away - which coincidently is as far as I would go to avoid watching "Eastenders"

By "New Moon" I am of course referring to the Luna Phase, not an instalment of the awful Twilight franchise. This is a mosaic of 6 images, shot on a web cam and stacked (around 1000 frames). Using this method brings out a lot more detail than simply shooting at prime focus

I was hoping for m51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy, but cloud prevented it. So a moved to good old dependable m42 - and this was the result. It's unexpected because I had to discard 50% of the light frames due to cloud and this has a nasty halo/banding again down to some passing muck. I left this wide as there is a faint bit of nebulosity in the top left - which is M43, The Running Man.

This is my first attempt at M31 The Andromeda Galaxy. M31 is our closest galactic neighbour and the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye.

This is my first attempt at imaging a galaxy and I've learned a couple of things - M31 is big and camera orientation is important. Also despite and exposure time ot 1 hour and 4 mins (based on around 200 sub exposures) I'm not pulling out enough fine detail - I wonder if this could be due to scope limitations (120mm F8 Refractor.). The camera also needs to be orientated differently - this is not always easy to spot on when setting up.

I am pleased it picked up the signature dust band and the core basic shape, but it lacks the detail needed. Not too worried by the failings of this one as it is my first galaxy, and I'm still learning.

I was meant to be chasing galaxies tonight, but due to some cloud (and not so good alignment by me) I opted to point at M42 again. Got some good data and learned a lot about DSS and this was the result. Still more work to do, but I'm making progress!