NGC 3532 Football Cluster

[Ryderscope]

The data for this object were captured during April and May as part of a fill in activity whilst in between other imaging projects. The cluster on the right is NGC 3532 also know as the Football Cluster. I can see the football shape so can easily see why it is called that. RGB exposures were limited to 60 seconds to avoid over saturating the stars and the Ha exposures were at 30 minutes with a view to capturing the faint nebulosity in this area.

Exposure details are:
Red = 87 @ 60s
Gre = 77 @ 60s
Blu = 84 @ 60s
Ha = 28 @ 1800s

I was attracted to this object as I felt that the stream of Ha that appears to emanate from the cluster provided a different perspective for the image. The surrounding area is home to many well known and imaged objects such as the Running Chicken Nebula, the Carina Nebula and the Southern Pleiades. It is good to get off the beaten track a little and present a lesser known object.

Link to image on Astrobin is here. (https://astrob.in/364943/0/)
Click on image in Astrobin for larger resolution.

[cometcatcher]

That's one of my favourite open clusters. I first saw it in about 1976 when I got my second telescope, an 80mm F15 refractor. That's the best image I've seen with the Ha vein running through it. Most pleasing to look at

[troypiggo]

Very nice with the Ha. I always thought it was the Wishing Well cluster, but can see the football too :)

[speach]

why on earth is it called the football cluster? I think we should stay with the official names NGC, M, etc I know some of them are also doubled-up but we know where they are, I've no idea where the 'football cluster' is.

[multiweb]

Very nicely done. :thumbsup: Looks a bit like what half of the bug nebula would look like in a 40m telescope. ;)

[Placidus]

Top shelf! Beautiful and narratogenic contrast between the cluster and the nebulosity. Excellent star colours, and very fine choice of contrast level.

Limited by our tiny FOV, we did a 3 panel mosaic but still very tight close-up view of the cluster, motivated by the pretty and varying star colours, but as you have shown there is much less nebulosity to be seen in the close-up. Your framing is preferable.


Best,
MnT

[Andy01]

Beautifully processed Rodney - your star colours are top knotch!:thumbsup:
(was that from a dark site?)
Yes it's often overlooked in favour of it's more imaged neighbours, but I too enjoy this cluster very much, both visually & and as a photogenic target. :)
Pincushion cluster, Football cluster, Wishing Well cluster - whatever you wanna call it - it's lovely :thumbsup:

[Ryderscope]

Kevin, Troy, Simon, Marc, MnT, Andy ..
Thanks everyone for your comments. This object does have a number of different names but call it what you like, it makes for good viewing. This was taken from my home observatory at Glanmire NSW which is about 12 Kms to the east of Bathurst. The skies are quite reasonable considering the proximity to a city of nearly 40,000 people. Typical SQM readings with a sky quality meter are around 21.5 - 22.0 (as long as I don't look towards Bathurst in the west !).

[willik]

Very nice image Rodney I like it a lot
Martin

[strongmanmike]

Cool shot Rodney...possibly even unique as framed and presented :thumbsup:

Mike

[Octane]

That is truly beautiful. Agreed with Mike and Trish and Andy -- your star colours are superb.

What a beautiful part of the sky!

H

[Ryderscope]

Many thanks for the feedback. Agree that it is a particularly 'photogenic' area. It was fortunate that I just happened to be looking around on Stellarium after a quick imaging project and stumbled across the cluster and nebulosity.

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Rodney.


Beautiful colours and nicely composed.


Ross.

[Bart]

One of my favourite visual clusters. Nice to see the nebulousness picked up in your image.

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Bart and Ross. The waft of nebulousity was what drew me to this image project and it was good to be able to capture it.

[RickS]

That's awesomely beautiful in full res, Rodney!

[topheart]

I agree!!
Very very well done!!
Cheers,
Tim

[Ryderscope]

Thanks Tim and Rick for the kind remarks.