|
|
|
Instrument |
12.5" RCOS @ ~f/9
(2880 mm fl) 0.64 arcsec / pixel. The Zoomify image scale is 0.85
to 3.41 arcsec / pixel. |
|
Mount |
Paramount ME |
|
Camera |
SBIG STL-11000 w/
internal filter wheel, AstroDon Gen II Filters |
|
Acquisition Data |
7/18/2012 to 9/18/2012
Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDAutoPilot3 & CCDSoft. AOL guided |
|
Exposure |
|
Lum |
300
min. (30 x 10 min. bin 1x1) |
|
RGB |
180 min. (
6 x 10 min. bin 2x2) each |
|
|
Software |
-
CCDSoft, CCDStack,
Photoshop CS6, PixInsight and Noel Carboni's actions.
-
eXcalibrator v4.01 for
(g:r) color balancing, using 57 stars from the SDSS-DR9
database.
-
CCDStack to calibrate, register,
normalize, data reject, combine the sub exposures and create the RGB
image.
-
PixInsight for gradient removal and
initial non-linear stretching.
-
PhotoShop for the LRGB combine & final
touch-up.
-
Noiseware 5, a PhotoShop plug-in.
|
|
Comment |
North is to the
left
M51 is 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 (lef), NGC
5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and lie
within the boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici.
Source:
NASA APOD
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