This image of M87 was taken under moonless conditions with only light-pollution to contend with. Stars were visible down to magnitude 4.8
I was using my 80mm, f/6.3 refractor, an Atik 3.83L mono CCD camera, a Vixen Atlux mount with PHD auto-guiding.
I captured 5-minute subframes with matching dark-frames and combined them with flat-field frames to reduce the effect of vignetting in the final image.
The total exposure times were 60 minutes using a H-alpha filter, 60 minutes using an OIII filter and 90 minutes using a blue filter.
M87
This image of Markarion's chain is a reprocessed image with an extra 90 minutes of luminance data added using a blue filter.
Markarion's chain
Mosaic composition of the Markarion chain with M87
