Andromeda Galaxy, M31

[firebrand18]

Took a leap of faith using just a UV-IR cut filter from Bortle 8 skies but M31 was placed close to the zenith so away from the city light dome; turned out better than I expected. 11hrs 50m total integration across four nights in September.

WO GT81, HEQ5Pro, QHY168C

https://www.astrobin.com/2gt15n/

Nick

M31 2022-09-24 10-03-04-05 120s 1x1 10 50 -15C 11h50m v1a.Jpg (528.1 KiB) Viewed 2721 times

[Mike in Rancho]

12 hours, well done!

Not always easy to process this one. You have a good FOV though, getting both the big galaxy and a nice surrounding background. When I did this one a few months back I had the common just-barely-squeezed-in and had to make it diagonal across the sensor.

[firebrand18]

Thanks Mike; yes, really liked your M31 and the way you framed it.

Its the choice you make when buying a scope; going for small wide field aperture (great for large targets) or big narrow field aperture for galaxies; many people have both (or more!); I use 81mm/382mm and 51mm/250mm scopes and the ability to pick up the entire setup and plop it down on my marked observing pad with minimal fiddling is the biggest factor as you get older (and lazier!). I'm set up in 15 minutes!

Not to mention the bigger the scope the more it gathers the bortle 8 LP crap, making it tougher to process.

Your 6" Newt is a nice mid-range sweet spot.

Cheers,
Nick

[Mike in Rancho]

Hi Nick,

That kind of fast setup must indeed be nice!

I'm not sure on the big scope/more LP thing though. Big is good for collecting photons, though much also depends on speed and the angle at which you are bending them onto the sensor, as well as the pixel size.

I like fast though, and that's pretty important in big LP where the difference between target objects and skyglow is closer. You have to build up that true signal as much as you can.

[firebrand18]

Yeah, think I meant bigger scopes need better tracking/guiding or some such thing; smaller is more forgiving?

All SNR in the end, no matter the scope!