ClarkVision Photography: Night Gallery

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image m33.c08.13.2015.0J6A5389-445-57frames-e-1200vs.jpg is Copyrighted by Roger N. Clark, www.clarkvision.com

M33: Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum

M33 is one of the galaxies in our Local Group (galaxies near our own). It is estimated to contain only about 20 billion stars, compared to M31's 300 billion. M33 is about the same distance away as M31, or possibly slightly closer.

Technical. This image was obtained with a Canon 7D Mark II 20-megapixel digital camera and 300 mm f/2.8 L IS II lens plus a 1.4x teleconverter giving 420 mm at f/4 and ISO 1600. No dark frame subtraction, no flat fields. Tracking with an Astrotrac and no guiding. The 57 minutes total exposure (57 1-minute exposures).

The Exposure Factors, CEF, CEFA are measures of the relative amounts of light received from a subject. It can be used to fairly compare wildly different lens/telescope apertures and exposure times. For this image:

Modern DSLRs like the 7D Mark II include on sensor dark current suppression and low fixed pattern noise at ISOs around 1600 and higher, making no need for dark frame subtraction. Modern raw converters correct for light fall-off and also correct for hot/dead/stuck pixels. This makes processing low light images easy: simply align and average.


To learn how to obtain stunning images like this, please visit my Extensive Articles on Photography .

See my review of the Canon 7D Mark II and why it is so good for astrophotography: Canon 7D Mark II sensor analysis.


Keywords to this image = astrophoto-1 galaxy Messier night low-light digital_astro canon_7d2

Image ID: m33.c08.13.2015.0J6A5389-445-57frames-e-1200vs.jpg

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Last updated March 10, 2024