I made some time to process another chunk of data Matt and I captured a couple weeks ago. This is 1h30m of 5 minute exposures of Messier 106, a spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici captured with the QSI through the Meade 14" guided on the Paramount ME. The image was calibrated with dark, bias and flat frames. Processing was accomplished using Pixinsight






Processing this image presented some new challenges for me to work through. The galaxy had a very diverse dynamic range between the central spiral/core region, and the faint outer arms. Due to the magnification of the 14" the galaxy fills the frame. A wider field allows for numerous features/background to provide context for the faint structure of a galactic halo, but in this image I was forced to address it within the confines of a small FOV.