ROAST ::

October 1, a clear night and another session with M 31 before it moves away.

This is a megastack of three mosaic sessions, with somewhat less aggressive processing than the previous effort. It’s easy to overdo unsharp masking, and here it’s radius 5, contrast boost 80%, threshold 0%. Good to have no failures in last night’s session though.

Details:
Target: M 31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
Megastack session 1:
 Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Astro filter, perfect EQ
 Format: Two-frame mosaic, 1.0×1.8
 Time: 2026-09-08, 23:20 - 04:03
 Integration: 3hrs 42mins (222×60secs, +28 failures), gain 50
 Conditions: Clear with sporadic cloud; Bortle 6
Megastack session 2:
 Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Astro filter, perfect EQ
 Format: Two-frame mosaic, 1.0×1.8
 Time: 2026-09-10, 00:10 - 03:01
 Integration: 2hrs 30mins (150×60secs, +1 failure), gain 50
 Conditions: Clear; Bortle 6
Megastack session 3:
 Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Astro filter, perfect EQ
 Format: Two-frame mosaic, 1.0×1.8
 Time: 2026-10-01, 20:52 - 01:21
 Integration: 4hrs (240×60secs, 0 failures), gain 60
 Conditions: Clear, waning gibbous Moon; Bortle 6
Total integration: 10hrs 12mins (5:06 per frame)
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma, unsharp mask

And so to bed…