clear sky chart

Job 9:9

Job 9:9-10
9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
NIV

Monday, February 6, 2012

M33 - The Triangulum Galaxy

For my next trick...  on 2/5, I photographed the Triangulum galaxy under an almost full moon.  Transparency was quite good, as it didnt seem that the moon affected the outcome of the following images that much.  I was able to manage just under 40 frames, each 2 minutes in length, which is about the limit on my clock drive and mount.

Trouble I'm having is in processing.  I have 3 images which were processed slightly differently, and each has their own merits.  I'm really uncertain which I like the best.

This is the first processed image.  Uncropped and small.

This was done next.  Cropped and enhanced the contrast over the first one.

This one I re-stacked.  This one appears to show more detail, but is blurrier when its blown up to actual size.
I'll let you decide on which you like best.
All images produced from the same stack.  I used a 300 mm camera lens, 3X drizzle upon stacking.  Stacked 36 frames on the 3rd image, 22 frames on #1 & 2.  All frames 2 minutes each for 1 hour, 12 minutes total exposure.  I also used 10 darks.  ISO 800, f/8.

This galaxy is about the same distance from the Milky Way as the Andromeda Galaxy, however, the galaxy is about 1/3 the size.

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