Messier Object Hunt Begins

   After three long months I've finally got my new telescope mounted and the tripod placement aligned for astrophotography.  Gorgeous clear skies and a new moon aligned for this weekend and with the scope aligned I was flying through deep sky objects for the first time with my new 8" Celestron SCT.  I was even able to make a small run at image stacking on two planetary nebulas for the first time.

M27 - Dumbbell Nebula

M13 - Globular Cluster

M57 - Ring Nebula