How to capture a GALAXY with your DSLR

The video above shows every step of capturing and processing the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) with a DSLR, small telescope, and an iOptron SmartEQ mount. All data was captured in Somerville, MA (Bortle 9). It then goes in to processing with DeepSkyStacker and Adobe Photoshop. For other software, you can watch the first hour and 22 minutes of Part 1 above before switching to one of the videos below:

Resources

Example files of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) that I am processing in the videos are available from this Google Drive Link. And here is a link to my final JPEG from the Photoshop video (pt. 1) for comparison.

Note: I am releasing these files (like all my work) under a Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 License meaning if you process the data and share it elsewhere, please use this attribution (credit line): M101 by Nico Carver is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licesnse.

Software and Apps

Further Reading

Equipment mentioned in video

Mount
Optics
Camera
Intervalometer
Polar Alignment
Flats Panel
Finder
Dew Heater Band
Disclosure
  • Disclosure: I am trying out the Amazon and OPT affiliate programs. That means if you buy an item from them through a link on my web site, I get a small percentage of the purchase price as a commission. This doesn't increase your price! I am hoping to use any income from Amazon to help pay for hosting this website and registering the domain.