by blastrophoto » Tue May 24, 2022 3:48 pm
MESSIER OBJECT 51 - THE WHIRLPOOL GALAXY
Link to full resolution image:
https://flic.kr/p/2nnBnNS
Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl until you get to the handle's last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (right), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the eye, deep images like this one can reveal striking colors and the faint tidal debris around the smaller galaxy.
Technology has come so far to allow just a 5-inch refractor to capture such detail and wonder in a galaxy 31 million miles away. This HDR composite is composed of 5 hours RGB data captured from Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane Virginia, 3 hours Luminance data captured from Cherry Springs State Park, PA, and 9 hours of Hydrogen Alpha data captured from my backyard in Woodbridge, VA. I traveled to ensure I could get the best possible data for this particular image. I used 3 separate stretched layers to create a beautiful HDR composite, otherwise the core of this galaxy would have completely blown out the rest of the surrounding details. This is my first completed project using the new QHY533M. I'm extremely proud to have captured something in such detail. I hope you enjoy it too.
Gear:
QHY 533M
Explore Scientific ED127 FCD100
Optolong HA(7nm) and RGB filters
Skywatcher EQ6R-Pro
QHY OAG
QHY EFW
ZWO EAF
Integration:
36x180s - R
36x180s - G
36x180s - B
60x180s - Lum
109x300s - Ha
Processing:
Stacked and Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
NoiseXterminator for noise reduction
Locations:
Cherry Springs State Park, PA
Sky Meadows State Park, VA
Woodbridge, VA
Captured and Processed by:
Brandon Lewis (blastrophoto)
[b][u]MESSIER OBJECT 51 - THE WHIRLPOOL GALAXY[/u][/b]
[img2]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52096733370_8f515d177f_w.jpg[/img2]
Link to full resolution image:
https://flic.kr/p/2nnBnNS
Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl until you get to the handle's last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (right), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the eye, deep images like this one can reveal striking colors and the faint tidal debris around the smaller galaxy.
Technology has come so far to allow just a 5-inch refractor to capture such detail and wonder in a galaxy 31 million miles away. This HDR composite is composed of 5 hours RGB data captured from Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane Virginia, 3 hours Luminance data captured from Cherry Springs State Park, PA, and 9 hours of Hydrogen Alpha data captured from my backyard in Woodbridge, VA. I traveled to ensure I could get the best possible data for this particular image. I used 3 separate stretched layers to create a beautiful HDR composite, otherwise the core of this galaxy would have completely blown out the rest of the surrounding details. This is my first completed project using the new QHY533M. I'm extremely proud to have captured something in such detail. I hope you enjoy it too.
Gear:
QHY 533M
Explore Scientific ED127 FCD100
Optolong HA(7nm) and RGB filters
Skywatcher EQ6R-Pro
QHY OAG
QHY EFW
ZWO EAF
Integration:
36x180s - R
36x180s - G
36x180s - B
60x180s - Lum
109x300s - Ha
Processing:
Stacked and Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
NoiseXterminator for noise reduction
Locations:
Cherry Springs State Park, PA
Sky Meadows State Park, VA
Woodbridge, VA
Captured and Processed by:
Brandon Lewis (blastrophoto)