NGC 1532 Haley's Coronet

[Dave882]

Been away for a couple of weeks and just coming back to some data taken over the last few months - and a few projects like this one that were really needing a few more clear nights but alas the tail end of 2023 has been a bit of a write-off on the east coast.

I've always been fascinated by the appearance and morphology of NGC 1532 - an edge-on barred spiral galaxy in Eridanus around 50Myl away. Just love how it really looks like its got one big arm wrapped around the galaxy NGC 1531 as it devours it slowly but surely!

This data was taken over September and October, a total of 18.5 hours - and as I'm slowly coming to terms with, probably about 10hrs short for my city B7 location to be able to do justice to these broadband targets. I tried to make the most of what I had, but if I come back to it next year, probably about a third of the data belongs in the scrap heap due to bad conditions&guiding.

Stacking and LP gradient removal in APP, the rest of the processing in PI - and some final colour-noise removal in LightRoom.

Link to the bigger version here: (https://storage.googleapis.com/dso-browser.com/astrophotography/picture-2450b329178fda3155fd62baf2302630-original.tif)

c14 non edge @f7 with the Starizona reducer LF
EQ8 pro
Asi2600mc pro gain 100 (no filter)
Asi220mm / celestron OAG
ZWO EAF
ASIAIR pro / APP / PI / LR

Thanks for looking - and appreciate any comments or critique too

Merry Christmas to you all!!

[gb44]

Thats a cracker Dave. Cannibalism happening there.
Not even an IR filter? I prefer to keep something to cover the sensor of my cameras.

Oddly the link to the bigger version grabs Photoshop and downloads... Never seeen that before.

Cheers
GlennB

[Dave882]

Thanks Glenn- well the 2600mc has an AR window that has an integrated UV/IR filter so no need do an additional IR filter. Not sure why the links doing that, it’s just a link to the full size image hosted on the Telescopius site. Since it’s a Tiff it may be something to do with your file preferences perhaps?

[TrevorW]

Nicely done Dave :)

[telecasterguru]

Amazing colour and clarity.

[Dave882]

Thanks Frank & Trevor! There’s been some great images of NGC1532 this year and I’m happy to have been able to add to the collection too!!

[ChrisV]

That's really nice!

[Dave882]

Thanks Chris much appreciated!

[besmirched]

Just Wow! With a C14 what sort of tracking do you need to get "good" data?

[Dave882]

Thanks Pete! My ol’ eq8 still goes ok despite its years, howevwr the rms guiding figures can look quite good but when you compare the subs between different nights you can really tell the difference in star size and detail. My current process is to stack each night as a separate session, and then stack the sessions together (all in APP) with the settings to give preference to the best quality data. Helps make the most of what I’ve got, but to get nice smooth & natural looking detail, nothing beats having more good data, especially when you’re basking in the city lights