M51.
LRGB image made in Montlaux (France) in the night of 15-16 May 2002.
Takahashi CN212 in Newton modus D212 f/3.9.
SBIG ST-8 ABG, -20° C, no binning, 3 images of 30 m added for the Luminance layer, 1 x 15 min Red 2x2 binning, 1 x 15 m Green 2x2 binning and 2 x 15 m Blue 2x2 binning.
Image processing in CCDSOFT V5, AstroArt, Photoshop.
The image above was made on 20 May 2001. I used my Opticon 250 mm f/15 SCT with a Baader Planetarium Alan Gee II TeleCompressor, which brought the telescope down to f/7.8 (FL=1961 mm). With my SBIG ST-8, I made 12 images of 300 s each at -15°C CCD temperature. These images were processed using AstroArt and Photoshop. Due to the lack of suitable guidestar for the internal guider, I used my "old" ST-4 on a Vixen 100 mm f/10 refractor to guide throughout the exposures.
05-06/04/2000 with Takahashi E-160 and ST-7. One 10 m + one 15 m selfguided exposure. A satellite crossed the field during one exposure.
14/03/1999. Lichtenknecker Optics Flat Field Camera 190/200/760 and ST-7a. Sum of 2 x 30 m exp.