M51 - the Whirlpool Nebula(revisited)

Whirlpool Nebula or M51

I mentioned in the blog entry of Apr 23 2023 that we were working on improving the imaging quality of the big 16” Cassegrain here at the observatory. Well we have indeed come a long way in the year since then as the included photo indicates. We have made great strides in the tracking stability as well as the optical alignment of the telescope. This picture was taken on Apr 7 2024. It is a ten minute total exposure using the ASI533MC camera.