Hickson 44

[NoelC]

An apology more than an image:-

After a lot of messing about this is all I could manage from a couple of nights of imaging.
I lost the Luminance due to messing up the flat frames and losing 2/3ds to tracking spikes (you will see a particularly bad donut still looms in this image) and the stars are not quadruple stars as you might suspect from the spikes, simply tracking problems.
It really fell apart when stacked, although it looked quite interesting, so here it is.
I won't mess about with it any more as the data just isn't good enough.

[ApophisAstros]

An apology more than an image:-

After a lot of messing about this is all I could manage from a couple of nights of imaging.
I lost the Luminance due to messing up the flat frames and losing 2/3ds to tracking spikes (you will see a particularly bad donut still looms in this image) and the stars are not quadruple stars as you might suspect from the spikes, simply tracking problems.
It really fell apart when stacked, although it looked quite interesting, so here it is.
I won't mess about with it any more as the data just isn't good enough.

When i have no Flats for a workflow i have tried some nearest to the date and had ok results,interesting target.
Roger

[RobertM]

That's a good try Noel, shame about the problems.  Look on it as a learning experience, getting it right is an incremental business - we all go through this process.

Robert
PS. I think that perhaps the double diffraction spikes indicate a slight misfocus - might be worth checking at your next session.

[Roberto]

That's a good result Noel given the problems!  Hickson 44 is a neat group with interesting shapes 

Roberto

[Carole]

Annoying to waste all that imaging, time, I agree with Robert, looks slightly out of focus.

Carole

[NoelC]

Thanks for the comments and feedback.
Off to clean out the scope and practice my focus routines!
Noel

[The Thing]

Nice collection of galaxies. The double spikes are a dead giveaway for focus issues. 'If at first you don't succeed...' should be tattooed on all amateur astroimagers! Lots of clear nights coming up 

[MarkS]

That's a great attempt on a interesting set of galaxies that I've never imaged.

Mark