Object description: M33 is the third largest member of the Local Group, after The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and The Milky Way. Notable are its' abundant Ha regions and bright star clusters. Located in the constellation Triangulum about 2.3 million light years away, it is arguably the most distant deep sky object that can be observed with the naked eye under dark skies.

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106N
Camera: StarlightXpress SXVF-M25C
Mount: Software Bisque ParamountME unguided
Filter Wheel:True Technologies SupaSlim
Filters: Baader UV-IR cutoff, Astronomik 13nm Ha

Date Taken: 25SEP2006
Sky conditions: 18.39 mags/arcsecond^2, transparency 4/5, seeing 3/5, temp 20C
Image Acquisition: 48x300s 1x1 bin UV-IR filter, 20x600s 1x1 bin Ha, using MaximDL 4.56

Image Processing: ImagesPlus 2.80 used for calibration, bayerization, alignment, MinMaxExc combine for the RGB and Median combine for the Ha, initial DDP. PSCS2 used for levels, curves, high pass sharpening, and star color enhancement. GradX and Noel Carboni's AstroTools local contrast enhancement. Ha composite performed using Rob Gendler's HaGB + RGB method. THIS IS FIRST LIGHT FOR MY SXVF-M25C.

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