Chance alignment

[Peter Ward]

I often point my telescope at random patches of sky seeking new quarry for much deeper exposures.

This field covering NGC3312, a relatively obscure galaxy in Hydra is certainly worthy of further investigation...

The hour was late, so I only managed a single 900 second exposure. But the gear was working well, the seeing was OK hence I was surprised to see so many faint-fuzzies with just a single happy-snap.

Weather permitting, the plan is to revisit this cluster with decidedly deeper and colourful interest

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

A plethora of galaxies indeed, looking forward to seeing an update of this Peter. Thanks for posting this,
as an astro noob I'm eager to learn of new potential targets.
Cheers,
Tony

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

You must have been very good in a previous life to have captured that on curiosity alone. It's already a fine, clear crisp shot. The final result will be stunning.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Placidus

You must have been very good in a previous life to have captured that on curiosity alone. It's already a fine, clear crisp shot. The final result will be stunning.

Thanks M&T.. This lone frame is how the raw data pops-up on the screen from my setup, apart from flats and darks, there is not much one can do with a single frame of data.

I have to fess up...It wasn't a totally random point and shoot...I was aware of the Hydra galaxy cluster, but had no idea what was in it.
So many interesting galaxies!

Originally Posted by Ant0nio

A plethora of galaxies indeed, looking forward to seeing an update of this Peter. Thanks for posting this,
as an astro noob I'm eager to learn of new potential targets.
Cheers,
Tony

Glad you liked it Tony. I often use the SkyX to point the telescope at various galaxy clusters
This one looks to need some focal length...and a run of clear nights !

[gregbradley]

Amazing how much stuff there is in the night sky.

That is a good find.

Greg.

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

Looks like you have a fine image in the making Peter. I did this field a few years ago, and it is indeed very intriguing.

[Andy01 (Andy)]

Awesome field Peter - so much to see - will make a wonderful deep image when done!

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Andy01

Awesome field Peter - so much to see - will make a wonderful deep image when done!

Ta..just a working title at this point....the weather forecast, as my wife's grandad used to say: not look'a too good...

Originally Posted by Joshua Bunn

Looks like you have a fine image in the making Peter. I did this field a few years ago, and it is indeed very intriguing.

I'd be very curious to see what you managed Josh....I'd guess a dark site would do wonders for this field.

[DavidU (Dave)]

Peter Hubble ?

[Atmos (Colin)]

Very nice Peter, it’ll be good to see a finished product
It’s amazing how bright dim stars look when they’re the brightest in the scene.

I do have to take umbrage with the random pointing!
This is random pointing, just grabbed the telescope and pointed it at the deepest darkest part of the sky.

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

I'd be very curious to see what you managed Josh....I'd guess a dark site would do wonders for this field.

It was back in 2014 and I posted it here with a link to astrobin, but it's gone from there now so I'll have to add it back. You even commented on it ... okay, it was 6 years ago now.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Joshua Bunn

It was back in 2014 and I posted it here with a link to astrobin, but it's gone from there now so I'll have to add it back. You even commented on it ... okay, it was 6 years ago now.

2014? i'm struggling to recall what I did last week

I did some digging and discovered there is a APOD of the same field...but a super-deep effort might be cool.

[Paul Haese]

I did this same field a couple of years ago. That bright star will be a pain in the end. I found I had to do a lot of control work on the halo that is produced but I did not have that reflection you have there. That is going to suck with integration. It will be interesting to see what a 16" scope in light polluted skies will do compared to a 12" f4 in dark skies. Interesting.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

I did this same field a couple of years ago. That bright star will be a pain in the end. I found I had to do a lot of control work on the halo that is produced but I did not have that reflection you have there. That is going to suck with integration. It will be interesting to see what a 16" scope in light polluted skies will do compared to a 12" f4 in dark skies. Interesting.

Just had a look at the field you captured...very nicely done.

Not sure how much more the RC16 would bring to the party.
But my freshly minted STXL16200 should work well with the F6 reducer and deliver a similar field to the 16803...
..that also means new sky-flats/darks/dud pixel maps.

Given the torrential weather here...maybe a project for next year.