The Norma Cluster

[TrevorW]

The Norma Cluster (ACO 3627 or Abell 3627) is a rich cluster of galaxies located near the center of the Great Attractor; it is about 68 Mpc (222 Mly) distant. Although it is both nearby and bright, it is difficult to observe because it is located in the Zone of Avoidance, a region near the plane of the Milky Way. Consequently, the cluster is severely obscured by interstellar dust at optical wavelengths. Its mass is estimated to be on the order of 1015 solar masses. This image is 6hrs of data collected last night 60 x 6min subs (was hoping to get more data but storm hit Perth today and forecast is rain for the rest of the week) - in this image are numerous galaxies varying from Mag 12 to Mag 15 how many can you find of a possible 35 ??

[Startrek]

Trevor,
The reduced IIS image size (200kB) doesn’t do your image any justice at all
Just a suggestion but maybe join Astrobin and you can link full res images to IIS ( it’s only about $60 a year from memory? )
I was reluctant to join but bit the bullet a year ago and glad I did , it’s a great image hosting platform with plenty of info and a great forum too.
At a glance I can make out about 12 galaxies but my eyesight isn’t the greatest these days
Nice intro and details about the region too
Well done !!
Martin

[Dave882]

An intriguing piece of sky with kots of little fuzzies to search out - thanks for sharing!

[TrevorW]

Thanks Martin and David. I probably didn't do the area justice with the limited data captured :)

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, quite a few faint fuzzies in that!

The full frame full resolution version would be good to check out.

Mike