Astrophotography Makeover: M101 and M16

Posted on by

M101 with Supernova 2023xif – with and without BXT and NTX

M16 Eagle Nebula – with and without BXT and NXT

After learning about the powerful BlurXterminator (BXT) and NoiseXterminator (NXT) tools, I reprocessed my M101 and supernova and M16 images that I took from the glorious dark skies of Dell City, Texas earlier this summer.  I was amazed that so much detail can be found in images of objects thousands to millions of light years away taken by my small telescope.  

M16:

Camera geek info:

  • Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 2 minute exposure, ISO 2000
  • Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
  • Williams Optics Flat 73A
  • iOptron CEM40
  • Dell City, Texas Bortle 2-3 dark skies

Frames:

  • June 11, 2023
    • Run 1 
      • 6 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • June 13, 2023 
    • Run 2
      • 88 2 minute lights
      • 30 0.02 second flats
      • 31 0.02 second flat darks
    • Run 3
      • 83 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 31 2 minute darks
  • 17 frames rejected for a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes of data

Processing geek info:

  • PixInsight
  • BlurXterminator
  • NoiseXterminator
  • StarXTerminator
  • Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch

M101:

Camera geek info:

  • Canon EOS 60D in manual mode, 2 minute exposure, ISO 1600 and ISO 2000
  • Williams Optics Zenith Star 73 III APO telescope
  • Williams Optics Flat 73A
  • iOptron CEM40
  • Dell City, Texas Bortle 2-3 dark skies

Frames:

  • June 10, 2023
    • Run 1 1600 ISO
      • 99 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.01 second flats
      • 20 0.01 second flat darks
    • Run 2 1600 ISO
      • 39 2 minute lights
      • 31 0.02 second flats
      • 30 0.02 second flat darks
      • 71 2 minute darks
  • June 11, 2023 2000 ISO
    • 151 2 minute lights
    • 31 0.02 second flats
    • 20 0.02 second flat darks
    • 31 2 minute darks
  • June 12, 2023 2000 ISO
    • 30 2 minute lights
    • 31 0.02 second flats
    • 30 0.02 second flat darks
    • 32 2 minute darks

Processing geek info:

  • PixInsight
  • BlurXterminator
  • NoiseXterminator
  • StarXterminator
  • Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch

1 thought on “Astrophotography Makeover: M101 and M16”

  1. Pingback: William Optics Pleiades 111 First Light and More Nights with M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy | Space&Aliens

Leave a comment