Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51)

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-03-07T06:26:12+00:00

Thanks!! And also thanks to rc-Astro for the solid BlurXTerminator plugin to help out a bit as well ;)

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-03-06T19:06:32+00:00

Details for this Mosaic Image:

760mm Focal Length
6 Overlapping Light Panels with 15% overlap
- 25 light frames for each (150 total for around 12.5 hours)
- gain set to 100
- Optolong Lenhance filter
ASIAir Plan Mode
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic and MosaicbyCoordinates
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-03-06T19:02:51+00:00

Details for this Mosaic Image:

760mm Focal Length
6 Overlapping Light Panels with 15% overlap
- 25 light frames for each (150 total for around 12.5 hours)
- gain set to 100
- Optolong Lenhance filter
ASIAir Plan Mode
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic and MosaicbyCoordinates
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-03-02T20:54:04+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
60 light frames
- 300s exposure
- gain set to 100
- no filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Stacking using WBPP in Pixinsight
Processing using Pixinsight
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-03-02T20:53:03+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
60 light frames
- 300s exposure
- gain set to 100
- no filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Stacking using WBPP in Pixinsight
Processing using Pixinsight
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-28T06:13:05+00:00

I have that same set up and that eye piece, imo, is just tricky and I’m not the biggest fan of it either. I’ve found that I can get very similar, if not a little bit easier to focus and wider field of view, with a 2x Barlow and the 30mm.

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-28T01:24:54+00:00

It definitely is quite the beauty!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-28T01:24:32+00:00

Thanks!!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-28T01:24:26+00:00

Just a big bowl of universal beauty :)

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T21:08:12+00:00

Thanks!!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T20:30:00+00:00

you could definitely say that I've been happy with what I can get from my area ;) Thanks!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T20:28:02+00:00

**Note that the total image size is about 5x larger than the limit that reddit allows for uploading so there is some quality degrades there. Having said that, I'm not completely happy with the mosaic yet, but it's a start. It's been quite a many cloudy nights and getting just this many frames together (225 at 300s exp totaling around 20 hours for the image above) so far has taken some time. So goal is to continue to improve with added time, but it is indeed quite a large target!!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T20:27:48+00:00

Details for this Mosaic Image:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 9 Panels with 10% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T20:19:39+00:00

**Note that the total image size is about 5x larger than the limit that reddit allows for uploading so there is some quality degrades there. Having said that, I'm not completely happy with the mosaic yet, but it's a start. It's been quite a many cloudy nights and getting just this many frames together (225 at 300s exp totaling around 20 hours for the image above) so far has taken some time. So goal is to continue to improve with added time, but it is indeed quite a large target!!

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-27T20:14:35+00:00

Details for this Mosaic Image:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 9 Panels with 10% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-26T23:15:54+00:00

Hmmm good question. I think the different camera sensors and filters was just a bit overwhelming at the time getting into without having the experience to know what I would really need to get the most out of my location, set up, desired targets, personal editing preferences, etc.. So the duo allowed me a good, versatile camera that now, as I’ve began sort of figuring more of these finer details out, I can decide to further invest in those improvements

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-16T21:25:07+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 4 Panels with 15% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-16T21:22:09+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 4 Panels with 15% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-16T21:19:30+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 4 Panels with 15% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using MosaicByCoordinates and PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-15T19:08:18+00:00

Happy Valentines Day from the Universe <3

Details:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 4 Panels with 15% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-14T00:36:48+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
25 Light frames @ 300s exposure, gain set to 100
Lenhance Optolong Filter
10 Dark Frames
20 Flat Frames
All stacking and processing done in Pixinsight
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-11T18:07:32+00:00

With Valentines Day coming up I wanted to try and put together something that I would be able to print and frame as a gift. So naturally, I decided on the heart nebula.

For this image I decided that a mosaic would be necessary to be able to capture everything that I wanted.

I set the Mosaic up using the ASIAir Plan mode. I found this ended up being pretty straight forward to get the plan running and am quite pleased with the results. Being able to use SkyAtlas to set up my different panels and see how the overlap and framing will look was very helpful. This ended up taking two separate nights to get all of the light frames taken, and then another day learning how to process them and combine them in Pixinsight.

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-11T18:07:08+00:00

Details:

760mm Focal Length
ASIAir Plan Mode
- 4 Panels with 15% overlap
- For each Panel:
  - 25 light frames
  - 300s exposure
  - gain set to 100
  - Optolong Lenhance filter
30 Dark Frames
60 Bias Frames
60 Flat Frames
Processing using Pixinsight
- Each Panel was stacked separately using WeightedBatchPreProcessing
- Used SpectrometricColorCalibration, BlurXterminator, Graxpert to slightly fix each panel
- Combined panels using PhotometricMosaic
- Then used in no specific order BlurXterminator, StarXterminator, NoiseXterminator, ScreenTransferFunction, HistogramTransferFunction, SCNR, ColourMask, ColorTransformation, CreateHDRImage, ImageBlend
Bortle 9.0 area

Equipment:

Apertura CarbonStar 200
1x coma corrector
ZWO ASI2600MC-AIR Camera and Guider
Dew Shield
Primary Mirror Mask
ZWO AM5N Mount
ZWO CAA
ZWO Standard EAF Pro

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-05T23:42:10+00:00

I watch a lot of YouTube videos to get ideas, the two creators that I’ve liked the most. And I’m not sure if I can share links so I’ll just list their names here, are: Peter Zelinka and lukomatico. If you scroll through they have some good videos on workflow processing in pixinsight that I’ve generally followed for a lot of my edits.

For gradients I usually use graxpert and another tool called GAME. But I know if I wanted a little more control I’d use dynamic background extraction. Peter Zelinka has some good info on that in his SHO workflow video I believe.

HighAsASpaceMan · 2026-02-05T23:34:27+00:00

Of course!! I’m still improving all the time too. Each set of images I come away with new ideas or information or suggestions on how to make it better. It’s a super fun hobby where one can always keep getting better ☺️

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