M3 (5-14-09)

This is it: first real light for the new mount and first real autoguided image (well, worth publishing). M3 is a globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici, which last night passed directly overhead between 11 and 1. M3 is 33,900 light years from us and has perhaps half a million stars. This image is 48x2' through the Vixen R135S with the Atik 16, darks subtracted, autoguided on the Takahashi EM-10 with PHD through the DSI Pro. Wow! Processing was done in Nebulosity 1, Photoshop Elements 7, and Canon's Digital Photo Professional.