M45 ‘Pleiades’

By Anton Winter

I took this image of the Messier 45 ‘Pleiades’ back on the 6th of December 2013 but only recently got around to processing the data. Processing this was a little challenging, particularly given that I did not take any dark frames or flats to reduce the noise and dust motes that are now visible in my optical train.

Image Details:

Captured from my suburban Sydney backyard on 6th December 2013 and made up of a mere 50 minutes of data capture. The sub-exposures are made up of the following:

  • 10 x 2 minute
  • 6 x 5 minute

Gear:

  • Imaging Camera: Modified Canon 550D with an Astronomik CLS Clip In filter & Orion Field Flattener.
  • Imaging Scope: Orion ED80T Carbon Fibre
  • Guide Scope: Orion 80mm
  • Guide Camera: Orion Starshoot Autoguider
  • Mount: HEQ5 Pro GOTO
  • Guiding: PHD
  • Image capture: Nebulosity3
  • Stacking and pre-processing: PixInsight
  • Minor curve adjustments: Aperture3