Sunday, April 6, 2014

Revisiting the Beehive Cluster (M44) with Canon T5i

The last time I photographed M44 was in February 2013 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Now, more than a year later, with more experience under my belt, and a new camera, I was interested to see what I could come up with.

Delta Cancri (δ Cnc) makes an easy anchor to target when locating M44. Fun fact from Wikipedia, Delta Cancri also goes by the traditional name Asellus Australis which in Latin means "southern donkey colt" (can't say I see the resemblance).

m44 beehive cluster with 300mm DSLR
Stack of 92 subs, 85 darks, 78 bias at ISO 3200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

Compared to the measly 24 light frames at ISO 1600 last time, there are definitely more stars visible in my latest attempt! Still using the fixed tripod technique, however, so I'll be interested to see how this cluster really shines with an EQ mount.

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