Messier 63

Over recent weeks I have been looking at NINA, a freeware program for the control of our telescopes and connected equipment. I have watched lots of YouTube videos and felt I would give it a try. A very complex programme capable of lots of fantastic features, too many to list off the top of my head, all backed up by a large community of users and a host of additional plugins to create a truly customisable experience. Perhaps it is my impatience speaking here as I am now the proud owner of the new Altair 130 EDT scope and the need for collecting some photons is perhaps leading my frustrations. 

I have been now the user of the ASIair pro for several years and have been more than pleased with it's simplicity and ease of use. A clean user interface and an uncomplicated processes leads to the quick set up and start of imaging. So I thought a new challenge was needed....

When building the observatory I ran a powered USB extension into the house as well as a wired internet to allow the flexibility of future connectivity for wired and wireless To set NINA up I rerouted all data cables via my new powered USB hub and through to the extension cable to inside. Connectivity to NINA was simple opening up EQ Mod and PHD2 all stable with no dropouts to the laptop. Using the sky atlas selecting a target was easy and sending it to the framing tool prepares you for the imaging process. From there is where I found some issues, I ran the Hocus focus plugin a number of times but struggled to achieve focus using a number of filters. Making numerous adjustments to the focus steps in the attempt to replicate the demonstrated parabolic curve. Mine looked more like a top hat with odd dips and jumps. I am sure it is just settings but the frustrations exist that following the videos made no difference I just could not replicate anything resembling a good focus. It has also been a long while since I used PHD 2 and encountered similar issues with guiding calibration and not enough star movements. Aghhhhhh. I don't think it helps that I also feel awful, a really bad cough and cold. So for now I have reconnected everything back to the ASIAir, programmed an autorun sequence on M63, Auto focus has achieved and guiding is currently running at .45 RMS Perfectly acceptable. So for tonight anyway I will enjoy the clear sky and continue with this short run of subs. As of this minute I am at 26 from 40 x 5 minutes frames in LRGB. 

The following night was not so great with 95% humidity. So I have ended up with 19 x 5 minute subs in RGB, the Luminance data was for me too blown out so not used.

The Sunflower Galaxy, also known as Messier 63 or M63 and designated as NGC 5055 in the New General Catalogue, is a spiral galaxy located in the northern constellation Canes Venatici. It lies roughly 37 million light years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 9.3.

The galaxy is enormous in size, with an apparent size of 12′.6 × 7′.2. This makes it roughly the same size as the Milky Way galaxy, and it has a mass 140 billion times that of the Sun. It is also believed to have a supermassive black hole with a mass of up to 30 million Suns.

There are a number of fainter PGC galaxies here most of which are a hundred times or more further away. A Pixinsight annotation shows their locations.