M31 - Andromeda: First Light with a New Telescope!
This image marks a significant milestone: the first light with my newest telescope! After acquiring a telescope with a relatively small focal length, I was eager to explore larger celestial objects, and what better target than our magnificent neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)?
Capturing this view required a dedicated setup and considerable processing effort. Here's a peek at the gear and techniques used to bring M31 to life:
Equipment:
- Telescope: TS Optics Apochromatischer Refraktor AP 80/480 ED Triplet Photoline OTA
- Mount: Skywatcher EQM-35 Pro Synscan GoTo
- Camera: ZWO Kamera ASI 533 MC Pro Color
- Autofocus: ZWO EAF
- Guiding: Omegon Microspeed Guidescope + Bresser Full HD Deep-Sky Camera & Guider
Acquisition & Processing:
- Camera Control: ASIImg
- Guiding Software: PHD Guiding 2
- Total Exposure: 215 x 120 seconds (7 hours 10 minutes)
Postprocessing with Pixinsight:
- WeightedBatchPreprocessing
- Gradient Correction
- SpectrophotometricColorCalibration
- BlurxTerminator
- NoiseXTerminator
- StarXTerminator
- Generalised hyperbolic stretch
- CurvesTransformation
- Pixelmath (combining stars with a starless image)
This image is a testament to the power of modern astrophotography equipment and the incredible detail that can be revealed with careful planning and execution. I'm thrilled with the results and excited to see what other wonders I can capture with this new setup!
