John McDonald's reprocessed version of Joe Carr's first light image of M51. Processed with Images Plus, Photoshop and Astronomy Tools software to stretch, enhance local contrast and color balance.


Date: 2009.07.26
Location: Victoria Centre Observatory, Observatory Hill, Victoria, BC, Canada

This is a first light image from Victoria Centre's new QSI 583c CCD camera

Equipment: QSI 583c CCD imager prime focus on a Meade 14" SCT operating at f/10 mounted on a Paramount ME, autoguided by an Orion StarShoot Guider and PHD guiding software

Image Acqusition: CCDSoft - both light and dark frames, & camera control
Exposures: 12 x 5 minutes light frames, 7 x 5 minutes dark frames, cooled to 5°C.
Size: 3324x2502 pixels - original size from the CCD camera
Conditions: Temperature/RH 26°C/55%, LVM 4.5, Transparency 4/5, Steadiness 5/5, clear skies