M51 & M66

[JohnP]

Hi All,

I must be mad but couldn't resist the clear skies again last night. Decided to try M51 in Ursa Major & M66 in Leo. I've discovered a problem with the SC3 in that under certain conditions I get diagonal banding top left to bottom right. I think it's to do with mains interferance &/or the parallel port control lead for the LX. I will have to investigate. Anyway it's a real pain as it kinda ruined my M51 image - it wasn't so evident on the M66 because I used lower gain & shorter exposures. The M51 image is 200 X 15 sec subs (50 mins total) & the M66 is 200 X 8 sec subs (26 mins). DS imaging (long exposure is really boring....).

Comments welcome - John.

[Mike]

John, try M100 - there is a Supernova in it - See if you can get it.

[Whitters]

Nice images john, that camera is giving great results.

[JohnP]

Thks Mike - I'll give M100 a try next time out. Cheers Paul - I'm really pleased with the camera. I've been speaking with people on the QCUIAG since posting the images & someone pointed me in the direction of a free image processing utility - it literally took me 5 secs to correct the banding problem on the original M51 with NO effect to the rest of the image... I'm really pleased.. The corrected image is as shown below.

Cheers,  John

[Tony G]

John,
amazing images!!!!!!
it didn't take long to straighten that learning curve with the new gear.
keep up the excellent work.

Tony G

[JohnP]

Cheers Tony - I must admit I'm chuffed (especially with the M51) - the thing I've discovered with DSO's is that it's so boring..! Take the M51 for instance I captured it at about 1.00am last night - it was a 50 min total exposure - that 50 mins seems like about 3 hours in the middle of the night when it's sub-zero temps.. It's great though when you stack the image & see all the faint detail appearing.

Have you done anymore planetary/ lunar stuff lately. Shame DSC wasn't this weekend.

Cheers,  John

[Mike]

Do what I do - leave it running and go inside for a warm cuppa and a nap

[Fay]

John,

You say you have a lot to learn, but your new pics are great! I can't wait to have a go. You are very dedicated sitting up all those hours!

Is a Toucam SC3 a normal webcam? What is a MN56?

Fay

[JohnP]

Hi Fay,

A Toucam SC3 is basically a Toucam that has had the standard colour CCD chip exchanged for a much more sensitive B&W CCD chip. All I can say is that there is a lot of microelectronics involved (MICRO being the key word....) & I wouldn't attempt the mod unless  you have quite a bit of electronics experience under your belt else you'll end up 'trashing' your Toucam.

The MN56 is my current scope - It's made by Intes Micro & is a 5-inch Maksutov Newtonian design - I bought it 2nd hand about 6 months ago for £300. It's a nice little scope - the only problem is my EOS-300D digital camera won't focus with it...

Thks,  John