Mini Messier Marathon with T5i and Deep Sky Stacker: M46, M47, M50, M78

On February 27, 2014 we finally had a clear night with low wind speeds, but unfortunately low temperatures to go along with it. I have been slacking on the February observing list, and haven't felt like going out into the field next to my apartment. It's been too cold, too snowy, and when the snow finally melted it revealed all the dog duty in the lawn that our neighbors I guess didn't feel like picking up because the snow conveniently covered it up - out of sight out of mind. Let's just say it's not the place you want to be walking in the dark.

I also realized, after filming shots of campus for a work-related video that my camera is extremely shaky at 300mm. I guess I knew this on some level, but until you really see the amount of vibration you don't really realize it. I recorded video at 300mm and could only use a clip of 2 seconds out of a 30 second clip. This would explain my fuzzy moon, and might be due to the fact that the T5i is lighter weight than the XT. Or perhaps the wind has been picking up in January and February so far this year.

Ok I've been rambling enough, on to some photos. I shot these from my balcony out of the wind and stepped inside to stay warm while the shutter remote allowed the camera to rattle off plenty of frames. I am really enjoying this beefy 64GB memory card!

M46 and M47, stack of 60 subs, 77 darks, 70 bias, ISO 3200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

M50, stack of 60 subs, 77 darks, 70 bias, ISO 3200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

M78, stack of 109 subs, 77 darks, 70 bias, ISO 3200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

Whew! Quite the productive night! All of these are new to me, so I get to check them off my Messier Object list - and M50 was on the February observing list, so I get to check that off as well!