Horsehead M51
The Whirlpool Galaxy		 Horsehead

(Click on image for Full Resolution)

(Click here for a Track & Accumulate effort)

(Click here for second CCD image I had ever taken)


Date: March 16, 2004
Exposure: LRGB 120:60:60:75 : 12 - 600s L, 4 - 900s R,G and 5 - 900s B
Processing: CCDSoftV5 for image acquisition. MaxIm for image calibration,(10 flats each LRGB, dark subtracted and median combined, 20 bias frames median combined, 12-900s darks median combined. Dead/hot pixel removal, alignment, normalization, color combining, mild DDP on L only, unsharp on L only using CCDSharp 2 iterations. Photoshop CS for final color balance and jpg conversion.
Conditions: Clear, good transparency, average seeing
Scope: C14 @ f/6.6
Camera: ST-8XE, -25°, Celestron 6.3 Focal Reducer
Comments: Worked on this one over several nights. This is my second image since the installation of the Software Bisque locking collar. 15 min exposures for the RGB frames seem to get the best results for my conditions.