SN2023ixf in M101
Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 5:53 pm
I'm always amazed at how well SharpCap can perform when live stacking and filtering 
Last night I wanted to try and capture the new supernova in M101 but after setting up and framing/focus the clouds rolled in as usual for UK based astronomy!
Having nothing to lose I left the rig turned on and allowing SharpCap to select and Live Stack frames based on brightness. After 2.5 hours I came to shut things down but to my delight found that the spiral arms and SN could easily be resolved. Not a great image by normal standards but on a night with just a few cloud gaps this software really gives you a chance to pull out a result
WO Megrez 72 piggyback on LX-200 classic mount
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
8 sec exposures, Gain 120. 60 minutes of frames stacked out of 2.5 hours
M101 with SN2023ixf marked. I estimate its magnituse as +12 from comparison with other nearly stars
SN region crop
Comparison image of the same region I took in 2020
Thanks Robin for all your hard work!
Mike
Last night I wanted to try and capture the new supernova in M101 but after setting up and framing/focus the clouds rolled in as usual for UK based astronomy!Having nothing to lose I left the rig turned on and allowing SharpCap to select and Live Stack frames based on brightness. After 2.5 hours I came to shut things down but to my delight found that the spiral arms and SN could easily be resolved. Not a great image by normal standards but on a night with just a few cloud gaps this software really gives you a chance to pull out a result
WO Megrez 72 piggyback on LX-200 classic mount
ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
8 sec exposures, Gain 120. 60 minutes of frames stacked out of 2.5 hours
M101 with SN2023ixf marked. I estimate its magnituse as +12 from comparison with other nearly stars
- SN2023ixf 23-05-20.png (217.14 KiB) Viewed 6908 times
- SN2023ixf crop.png (50.3 KiB) Viewed 6908 times
- M101 SN region crop.png (117.21 KiB) Viewed 6908 times
Mike