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This was more of a proof of concept while cloud dodging - a guided capture (over 2 nights) and using the mosaic processing capability of Astro Pixel Processor. The 2 objects do not frame well in a single shot on the camera, hence the mosaic experiment.

Celestron AVX mount, Vixen 81s refactor, Vixen 0.67x reducer flattener, filter tray with Teleskop LRGB filters, Atik 314E camera.
PHD2 guiding with QHY mini-guide-scope, QHY5LII-M camera, ST4 connection camera -> mount.
Sharpcap 4 beta, Astro Pixel Processor, GIMP.
L: 12x300s, R:4x300s, G:3x300s, B: 4x300s; 50 bias, 20 darks, 50 flats (each filter).



Here is the luminance only mosaic:



More RGB frames needed plus some Ha (600s) may be beneficial for this target. Plus some work needed on RGB colour balancing. Realistically, one filter per night I reckon as M81/M82 pass directly overhead for me at 53°N.

I followed this tutorial https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/how ... by-mabula/ to create the mosaic.

This is how the guiding looked in action:


Dave

Nice outcome for the experiment Dave. Few months back I tried it with these too but with DeepSkyStacker and although it lined it up perfectly, the mosaic showed very bad blending of the 2 shots.
And yes, more RGB is needed

Menno

Thanks Menno. Astro Pixel Processor has built in facilities for dealing with mosaics. Worth watching the video even if you don't use the software (yet).

Dave