NGC 6744 Pavo Galaxy on a dewy night

[Startrek]

Last night started out clear with no dew so decided to image a galaxy which I haven’t done since May. Chose NGC 6744 Spiral Galaxy in the constellation of Peacock ( Pavo ) as it’s placed quite low around 6.30pm and doesn’t cross the south meridian until midnight.At magnitude 9 it’s an unusually bright galaxy with a very dense surrounding star field
Got underway by 6.30pm but unfortunately by 7.30pm heavy dew hit including some salt mist which turned my guiding from 0.65 to 1.25 total arc sec error and some excursions in Ra and Dec . Stars in my subs went from tight to fat in just over an hour. Still battled on until about 10pm and managed to salvage about 20 x 5min average subs
NexDome Obs
Dew heaters running
8” f5 GSO newt
EQ6-R mount
PHD2 Multistar guiding
EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium
APT
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools V1.7 OSC Linear data set

Comments Welcome
Thanks

[gregbradley]

That's a beautiful image and hard to believe so deep for so little exposure time.

This is a fairly dim galaxy.

Great work.

Greg.

[Startrek]

Thanks Greg,
Appreciate your nice comments
My set up is an all rounder ( except wide field ) using the 8” and my 2600MC APS- C sensor size with 3.76 pixel size
1000mm focal length
0.80 arc sec per pixel image scale
Allows me to get in fairly close, use a bit of software binning in Startools due to being oversampled and end up with reasonable detail in the dimmer galaxies
However at 1000mm there is a limit on what galaxies I choose and like everything the quality of the atmospheric conditions governs the result
As far as amount of data required , this 2600MC amazes me every time I use it
Brilliant camera
Cheers
Martin

[Ant0nio]

Wow Martin, that's an impressive result for the reasons Greg mentioned above, but a fine image regardless.
Lovely job on the processing with correct colours & fine detail, a testament to your skill with Startools. Well done mate. :thumbsup:
Cheers,
Tony

[Startrek]

Tony,
Thanks very much
Appreciate your comments
I’ve been using Startools for nearly 4 years now and still finding useful tips and procedures
Cheers
Martin

[Retrograde]

Great capture Martin.

Lovely detail and colours - extra impressive considering the relatively modest integration time.

[Startrek]

Pete,
Thanks very much
Yes very happy with the final processed image
Guiding was poor which resulted in slightly bloated stars ( but still round )
I’d like to image this galaxy again on a dew free , stable night with good seeing
Being on the coast and only 200m from the beach we sometimes get some low level salt mist drifting in when there’s little or no wind.That night I copped a double whammy, heavy dew and salt mist , doubles your guiding error
Cheers
Martin

[RobF]

Great work with the 8" Newt. Handled well they're an underrated instrument. This is a particularly diffuse target and you've really pulled it out well on that much data.

Must be great to have gear ready to go in the dome and take advantage of whatever useful weather presents.

Would be interested to hear what sort of dew protection you run on the Newt?

[Startrek]

Rob,
Thanks very much
Yes the 8” f5 newt is an all round performer for most DSO objects and planetary
I’m happy with the 1000mm focal length , obviously too short for the dimmer smaller galaxies but great for the dozen or so in its range capabilities
I also use a 6” f6 newt in Sydney, another great all round scope
Yes the Dome Obs makes AP so much more enjoyable and allows me to image in 25 to 30km hr winds like last night ( imaging the Cats Paw nebula ) It use to take me 2 to 3 hours to set up and an hour to pull down and pack away, a real chore
I use Kendrick dew heater straps on the newt both ends , plus guide scope and finder scope too
It’s controlled by an Orion 4 channel dew zapper
I rarely have to use them in the Dome , only on really heavy dewy nights
Cheers
Martin