The Antennae Galaxies

[TrevorW]

The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 or Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. Mag 10. They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation. They were discovered by William Herschel in 1785.
7 hrs data captured over a couple of nights in poor seeing Bortle 6

[Dave882]

Nice going Trevor it’s a tough target from the suburbs that’s for sure! If I may suggest, looks like you’ve done some masking on the antennae tails and is displaying a little blockish to my eye. I think a lighter hand may well yield a more natural result. :thumbsup:

[TrevorW]

Cheers David hard target need good clear skies and plenty of data to really show the tails and yes had to use selective masking to show those up attached is my first attempt

[Dave882]

Yep they are so hard to bring out without oodles of integration (unless you’re like b1/b2 sky). I think I used a range mask for my attempt and HDRMT in PI to give them a bit more body.