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J3RRYLIKESCHEESE OP t1_jdpmgvi wrote

Here is my latest DSO work! Caldwell 38 aka The Needle Galaxy. I took this on March 22, 2023 from my backyard in Salem, OR. I spent about 5 hours to capture this data, meaning that on average about half the frames were rejected due to tracking/wind or other factors.

Details: Used sharpcap livestacking to shoot 50, 3 minute stacks consisting of 180x1 sec exposures. Then RGB alignment was done on all the frames to align the color channels using AstroSurface, and the data the 50, 3min stacks were also stacked using AstroSurface. The master stack was preprocessing in SiRiL with green noise removal, background extraction, banding reduction and color calibration. Final color adjustment, denoise, and sharpening done in GIMP.

Gear: SW 10" GoTo Dob and Uranus-C with UV/IR cut filter

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Matt7163610 t1_jdpqmt0 wrote

I don't know what's more incredible: the galaxy and the picture themselves or the technology and process to capture this picture! Great work!

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exceptional_biped t1_jdqee4t wrote

OP can I ask if the Needle galaxy looks like this through your 10 dobsonian without a camera hooked up? I assume you live under dark skies. Unfortunately I don’t and I can only just make out what appears to be Andromeda as a very faint smudge. I also have a 10 inch dobsonian.

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weathercat4 t1_jdr76vm wrote

Replying to exceptional_biped (#2,367,930)

Galaxies are hard in bad light pollution. I used to live in bortle 7 and when I was galaxy hunting it was more about being able to locate and detect the smudge. Andromeda was only a faint smudge and m110 was only detectable on good night's.

Try the sombrero galaxy m104 it was by far my favorite in bortle 7.

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reynjama t1_jdrdlom wrote

What’s cool to me is the fact that the light you captured is billions(?) of years old

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Vader_Von_Vader t1_jdsrp0r wrote

Damn that’s awesome!!! I wish one of you pro dudes would post an ELI5 video on exactly how you do this.

I love your skill

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