1st image of NGC 55 Whale Galaxy

[Startrek (Martin)]

Captured NGC 55 last night for the time as conditions were superb, no wind , low Jetstream , no moon, Bortle 3 skies and good seeing
Located in the constellation of Sculptor this barred spiral galaxy sometimes referred to as the Whale galaxy or String of Pearls galaxy is approximately 6.5 million light years from earth and shines at magnitude 7.87 although judging from my subs it should be a 9 as it’s really dim
8” f5 Bintel GSO newt on an EQ6-R Mount
Canon 600D unmodded with Baader coma corrector
Home made DSLR cooling fan running all night ( sensor temperature started initially at 24 degrees and dropped to 19 degrees shortly after for the remainder of the night )
No filters
ISO 800
30 x 5 minute dithered guided subs
20 x darks
Capture software BYEOS
Tracking and Goto EQMOD, Stellarium Scope and Stellarium
PHD2 guiding using the Hysterisis algorithm at 0.70 to 0.80 arc sec error ( the best guiding I’ve achieved to date with this mount with a 15kg payload. East heavy set on both sides of the meridian ) Others may disagree but this EQ6-R Mount is far more superior in overall performance to my HEQ5 mount in all areas and conditions taking into consideration the payload differences. The HEQ5 is a great mount and proven performer for many years but it’s new bigger brother is an absolute delight to Image with.
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools v 1.4

Thanks for looking , comments welcome

[h0ughy (David)]

Done well with that

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Really nice image there Martin, well resolved with plenty of detail coming through. You nailed the focus and your processing has brought out the best to show this, well done.

[ChrisV (Chris)]

Very nice Martin, it looks like a tough object. You've certainly got the guiding going well on that mount

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Great and interesting target. A lot of colour and detail. Those blues and red star regions are very good.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks David , Michael and Chris
Yeh really happy with this capture everything was running to plan and conditions couldn’t be better
I forgot to mention , if you zoom in around the field there are literally dozens of faint galaxies everywhere ( at first I thought they were stars but there oval shaped and definitely galaxies , maybe a bigger scope on the cards for next year ?? )
Thanks again

[Sunfish (Ray)]

There is a lot of small galaxies in there somewhere half way along the whales belly, and a lot of red star forming regions. Very nice target. Thanks.

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Well done Martin, NGC 55 is not an easy one. As mentioned by others you've captured some nice detail & nailed the colours.
Cheers,
Tony

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Tony
Yes NGC 55 is a dim one but the 8” did its job amongst many other things
I’ve imaged NGC 6744 and NGC 253 last night and captured around 2hrs on each , ill process them tomorrow
NGC 300 is on my list for tomorrow night if the weather holds out
I’ve been at my weekender ( Bortle 3 ) this week , so having a galaxy a thon as I have to head back to Sydney on Friday , bummer and I’m retired too ....
Thanks again

[Fernando]

Beautiful! Great colors!

[xelasnave]

Another ripper Martin.
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks so much Fernando and Alex
Yes very pleased with this capture
Only NGC 300 to process from the other night and I’m done for a while ( a short break )
Cheers