I have purchased a second hand Canon 500D (Rebel T1). It was faulty in that it cannot save any images to the SD card slot. However, for me that's not an issue since I will be using it connected to a laptop. I paid for it to be 'astro-modded', meaning it has had the infra-red filter removed, which now means it is about 5x more sensitive to red light that my Nikon D5300!
This is my first image taken with the new camera. My setup has altered slightly , in terms of I now use Astrophotography Tool to check the images being recorded on the camera , including the star alignments and focusing using the Bahtinov mask. APT also allow you to program in types of shot sequences (iso, exposure, number of shots, intervals , etc). Next time I have an imaging session (hopefully tonight), I shall also use Carte de Ciel to guide the telescope (hopefully to Markarian;s Chain).
Anyway, here is Messier 51 , The Whirlpool Galaxy:
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| M51 showing tidal streams |
The image shows the tidal streams, possibly showing the effects of dark matter. Previous images taken with the Nikon do not show these as well (however they are not in red light so I guess this is not due to the presence/absence of the infra red filter).
This next image shows the other DSO's present:
