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Old 15-02-2015, 01:14 PM
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Amaranthus (Barry)
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Large Magellanic Cloud - 55 mm at f/5.6

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC, PGC 17223), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, visible from southern skies in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. At a distance of 163,000 light years, it is one of the closet galaxies, with a size of 10 billion solar masses and a diameter of about 14,000 light years. It is now recognized as a disrupted barred spiral galaxy (rather than irregular), and the main bar can be seen clearly in this image. The Tarantula Nebula and other smaller features are also visible.

The whole galaxy spans about 11 x 9 degrees of sky. I captured it using a Sony NEX-3 DSLR (APS-C sensor) with a 55mm lens at f/5.6 (235 subs at 30 sec each), mounted on an AZ-EQ6 GT (no guiding). I then framed the area of interest and up-scaled the image with 3x drizzle stacking in DSS. Post-processed in StarTools.

The image was taken in the dark skies of rural southern Tasmania, and the LMC was at an elevation of about 60 degrees for the capture.

Full details and a high-rez version (worth looking at) are here:
http://www.astrobin.com/156460/

Of course, unmodded DSLRs have real limits for such objects. I'd love to be able to capture this with my mono QHY22, and get some H-alpha data etc. I just need to figure out the best lens to put in the front of my CCD. A future project to dream of...

(2nd image is with R and B channels swapped, and green capped to brown)
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Click for full-size image (LMC_NEX3_55mm_f5.6.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (LMC_NEX_55mm_BGR.jpg)
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Last edited by Amaranthus; 15-02-2015 at 02:31 PM.
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Old 15-02-2015, 02:06 PM
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gaa_ian (Ian)
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That is an awesome shot Barry, the LMC like I have never seen it before. It is very clear from your photo that is was a barred Spiral before our galaxy gobbled up its outlying stars !
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Old 15-02-2015, 02:30 PM
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Amaranthus (Barry)
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Thanks Ian! For fun, here's another version, with the R and B channels swapped, and green capped to brown. Makes for an interesting contrast. Too much colour noise, unfortunately.
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Click for full-size image (LMC_NEX_55mm_BGR.jpg)
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Old 17-02-2015, 04:24 AM
Ross G
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Great looking widefield photos Barry.

The Sony NEX seems to work very well.

I have just bought a similar one and this makes me keen to try it out on astro.

Ross.
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