Open cluster M50 in Monoceros. Small nebula at lower right is Van denBurgh 87. NGC 2316 is fuzzy spot at upper right. Red star at upper left is RY Mon. Taken from Timor Cottage, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, December 12, 2010. This is a stack of 4 x 6 minute exposures at ISO 1600 with Canon 5D MkII camera on 105mm Astro-Physics Traveler apo refractor at f/5.8 with 6x7 field flattener.
M51, taken April 22, 2006 with 5-inch apo refractor at f/4.5 and Canon 20Da camera at ISO400. Four 10-minute exposures average-stacked.
Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, the classic face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici in the northern spring sky. This is a stack of 6 x 10-minute exposures with the Astro-Physics 130mm apochromatic refractor at f/6 (with the 6x7 Field Flattener) and with the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. As an experiment on this mild but still cool spring night I did not shoot dark frames or LENR in-camera darks to see the extent of thermal noise. There was quite a bit at the single pixel level, proving that the camera does need darks or LENR when the ambient temperature is warmer than a sub-zero winter night.
