M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (Patrick Graham)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn) · Contains: IC 4277 · IC 4278 · M 51 · NGC 5194 · NGC 5195 · Whirlpool Galaxy

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

This is a first attempt image using LRGB filters with a Monochrome camera. I have been using OSC and have wanted to challenge myself. And it was a challenge! It was a steep learning curve for me and still have a way to go but thought the image to be presentable, despite the purply-pink hues that show up near the core. I won't go into the description of M51 as it is familiar to all of us. However, it is one of the most unique objects and very suitable for advanced and beginner astro-photographers alike. I think I sacrificed some resolution for some sensitivity as the image scale was very small at the 1 x1 binning. In order to get to between 1 and 2 arc-seconds/pixel, I had to go the 3 x 3 binning to bring down the exposure time. Autoguiding was a bit sloppy but the short, unguided exposure times produced nice round stars. Although I took several Ha subs, I did not include those in this image. As soon as I learn about NB, I'll update. I can't explain the coloring around the cores, but though not very scientific, it makes for a pretty picture. Please comment as your critiques and suggestions are very valuable to me.

Clear skies to all!

Patrick

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	5684801
PixInsight job	LGRR4G52MKT41NF7OMPORBEZH6F35TE3
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	13h29m51s.64
RA (top/left)	13h28m39s.74
RA (top/right)	13h28m37s.39
RA (bottom/right)	13h31m02s.73
RA (bottom/left)	13h31m06s.77

Dec (center)	+47°11′47″.7
Dec (top/left)	+47°30′28″.6
Dec (top/right)	+46°53′25″.2
Dec (bottom/right)	+46°53′04″.9
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°30′08″.4

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

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