ASTRO: M109 and a few friends

The eclipsed moon never was high enough to clear the trees or
observatory sides. Also we had a hazy sky that was spitting snow so I
couldn't have rolled the roof anyway.

You'll have to settle for M109 taken a couple weeks earlier. This time
I held the frost and clouds off long enough to get the exposure time I
wanted. Seeing wasn't that hot however. Can't have everything go right
it seems. At least nearby Gamma didn't fog the field with ghosts of
itself. I did have to play around to find an aim point that that didn't
happen. Odd how moving just a couple minutes of arc makes all the
difference eliminating them entirely.

The friends are UGC 6969 to the left. Under M109 is UGC 6940 and the
one at the lower right is UGC 6923. Most of the others weren't listed
in the Aladin data base. And there are a lot of them if you look closely.

14" LX200R@F/10, L=10x5' RGB=3x5' all binned 2x2, STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Another winner Rick. Both the main galaxy and all those smaller ones look
very good.
I had some problems with the reflections of the nearby bright star when I
last tried M109 and as a result had to make the background much darker than
I would have liked to.

Stefan

"Rick Johnson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
The eclipsed moon never was high enough to clear the trees or
observatory sides. Also we had a hazy sky that was spitting snow so I
couldn't have rolled the roof anyway.

You'll have to settle for M109 taken a couple weeks earlier. This time
I held the frost and clouds off long enough to get the exposure time I
wanted. Seeing wasn't that hot however. Can't have everything go right
it seems. At least nearby Gamma didn't fog the field with ghosts of
itself. I did have to play around to find an aim point that that didn't
happen. Odd how moving just a couple minutes of arc makes all the
difference eliminating them entirely.

The friends are UGC 6969 to the left. Under M109 is UGC 6940 and the
one at the lower right is UGC 6923. Most of the others weren't listed
in the Aladin data base. And there are a lot of them if you look closely.

14" LX200R@F/10, L=10x5' RGB=3x5' all binned 2x2, STL-11000XM, Paramount
ME

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Nice composition. I like the color on this one. It looks like you got some
of dust near the core on each arm.


Joe



"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...
The eclipsed moon never was high enough to clear the trees or
observatory sides. Also we had a hazy sky that was spitting snow so I
couldn't have rolled the roof anyway.

You'll have to settle for M109 taken a couple weeks earlier. This time
I held the frost and clouds off long enough to get the exposure time I
wanted. Seeing wasn't that hot however. Can't have everything go right
it seems. At least nearby Gamma didn't fog the field with ghosts of
itself. I did have to play around to find an aim point that that didn't
happen. Odd how moving just a couple minutes of arc makes all the
difference eliminating them entirely.

The friends are UGC 6969 to the left. Under M109 is UGC 6940 and the
one at the lower right is UGC 6923. Most of the others weren't listed
in the Aladin data base. And there are a lot of them if you look closely.

14" LX200R@F/10, L=10x5' RGB=3x5' all binned 2x2, STL-11000XM, Paramount
ME

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Thanks,

Color is much easier when the frost stays away. I doubt I'll see such
cold again this winter so should be set once the snow stops. More
coming tomorrow. Took all winter to get any now we have too much on my
roof to open it. Normally it just rolls off but this one came with ice
first that cemented it down so that didn't happen. Still the solar heat
system should melt most of it Wednesday when warm temps and bright sun
is forecast.

I still have a couple more frost or cloud plagued shots I'm trying to
process. About given up on the color in Leo I. I'll be posting what I
got after another try tonight on it.

Rick


J McBride wrote:

Nice composition. I like the color on this one. It looks like you got some
of dust near the core on each arm.


Joe



"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...

The eclipsed moon never was high enough to clear the trees or
observatory sides. Also we had a hazy sky that was spitting snow so I
couldn't have rolled the roof anyway.

You'll have to settle for M109 taken a couple weeks earlier. This time
I held the frost and clouds off long enough to get the exposure time I
wanted. Seeing wasn't that hot however. Can't have everything go right
it seems. At least nearby Gamma didn't fog the field with ghosts of
itself. I did have to play around to find an aim point that that didn't
happen. Odd how moving just a couple minutes of arc makes all the
difference eliminating them entirely.

The friends are UGC 6969 to the left. Under M109 is UGC 6940 and the
one at the lower right is UGC 6923. Most of the others weren't listed
in the Aladin data base. And there are a lot of them if you look closely.

14" LX200R@F/10, L=10x5' RGB=3x5' all binned 2x2, STL-11000XM, Paramount

ME

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

I was surprised that it wasn't a problem. First couple places I put 109
in the field near the center it was but then raised it and not even a
faint gradient remained of Gamma. Not sure why that one spot worked so
well.

I got lucky too with Leo I. Regulus wasn't a problem either, much to my
surprise, but frost and clouds sure were. Still trying to get rid of
purple stars in that one. About to give up but will give it one more
try. Seeing was so good I hate to give up on it and frost didn't bother
the luminosity layer, just the red. Clouds greatly dimmed the green
which seems to be the main source of the purple stars. I turn up green
but that kills the background. But with 5 asteroids in the frames it
isn't one I can pitch. I just don't have the Photoshop skills others do
it seems.

Anyway, M64 came out great so will post that tonight. It was taken the
same night as 109 so no frost or clouds, just the same less than great
seeing.

Rick

Stefan Lilge wrote:

Another winner Rick. Both the main galaxy and all those smaller ones
look very good.
I had some problems with the reflections of the nearby bright star when
I last tried M109 and as a result had to make the background much darker
than I would have liked to.

Stefan

"Rick Johnson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

The eclipsed moon never was high enough to clear the trees or
observatory sides. Also we had a hazy sky that was spitting snow so I
couldn't have rolled the roof anyway.

You'll have to settle for M109 taken a couple weeks earlier. This time
I held the frost and clouds off long enough to get the exposure time I
wanted. Seeing wasn't that hot however. Can't have everything go right
it seems. At least nearby Gamma didn't fog the field with ghosts of
itself. I did have to play around to find an aim point that that didn't
happen. Odd how moving just a couple minutes of arc makes all the
difference eliminating them entirely.

The friends are UGC 6969 to the left. Under M109 is UGC 6940 and the
one at the lower right is UGC 6923. Most of the others weren't listed
in the Aladin data base. And there are a lot of them if you look
closely.

14" LX200R@F/10, L=10x5' RGB=3x5' all binned 2x2, STL-11000XM,
Paramount ME

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".