I took advantage of the clear and Moonless sky (2016 March 31st) to image the well-known Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, in Canes Venatici (but actually quite close to the star Benetnasch. the end of the handle part of the Plough). The galaxy is about 23 million lightyears from our own Milky Way galaxy. You can find several much more distant galaxies in the same picture.
Image made using Atik One-6.0 CCD camera on Altair 10" RC telescope and Skywatcher AZ EQ6-GT mount. Luminance exposure was 85 minutes (in 5-min subs) and R,G,B exposures 25 minutes each (in 5 min subs). Processed in Maxim DL to create the LRGB composite then in Photoshop for the final image.
Image made using Atik One-6.0 CCD camera on Altair 10" RC telescope and Skywatcher AZ EQ6-GT mount. Luminance exposure was 85 minutes (in 5-min subs) and R,G,B exposures 25 minutes each (in 5 min subs). Processed in Maxim DL to create the LRGB composite then in Photoshop for the final image.
