M31 the Andromeda Galaxy, many people call it our sister galaxy to the Milky Way that we live in. The glowing lightbulb that we see in binoculars and small telescopes can be quite remarkable with the accumulated light of extended exposures.

On this balmy night (20C) in spite of a very nice sky there was a bit of a film that was evident in the glow that we saw. Nelson measured 20.8 on the Sky Quality Meter which is fairly good but we have had darker skies on the Hill. There was also light bursts of wind.

It has been a while since I used the Astrotrac tracking mount. As many of you know the popular tracker still requires a mounting mechanism for the camera which usually is a simple ball and socket head. With the longer 300mm lens this can be a challenge in pointing the camera. I have been refining the way I mount the camera over the last year but have not had a chance to test it until now. For the most part the hardware additions of a lower ball and socket head and a tilting platform that I normally use on a monopod gives me the movement that I need, especially for objects near the zenith. It worked very well but time will tell with longer exposures.

M31 is challenging to image given that the dynamic range of the object is quite broad. The central core is quite burnt out compared to the outer reaches of the galaxy. This will be work in progress, I have yet to image and integrate different exposures to address this problem. There is some colouration in the original image but I found a black and white rendition more pleasing to the eye.

Camera: Canon 60Da set at ISO 1600
Lens: Nikon 300/4 AF with Novaflex adapter
Exposure: 90 seconds at F/5.6
20 Light Frames Averaged in Maxim DL with DDP applied. Final processing in Adobe Photoshop CC with Alien Skin Exposure 5 for setting BW tonality.