The southern queen of Galaxies NGC6744

[gregbradley]

Arguably one of the prettiest galaxies in the southern hemisphere. Also said to be one of the most similar in appearance to the Milky Way it is unfortunately a dim target.

Recent AP Riccardi Honders at my dark site observatory plus previous dark site CDK17 data for a total of 28 hours comprises this image.
Cameras were FLI Proline 16803 and QHY600mm.

https://pbase.com/gregbradley/image/174808224/large regular size image


Greg.

[PRejto]

Beautiful image, Greg!

As an aside, recently when ever I see a galaxy image with stars (which is always) I'm struck by how "flat" the image is in reality...the stars being so relatively close and the galaxy indescribably further away. I think this image might profit from some star reduction techniques...perhaps dimming them so the galaxy stand out more?

Anyway, lovely work on a difficult subject!

Peter

[Peter Ward]

Very imprerssive. Excellent resolution, colour and processing.. Nice :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alpal]

Nice picture Greg on a difficult target,
you've done a lot of processing work to combine the data
from 2 different scopes and cameras!
You have also picked up PGC 62815 quite well:
https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc67.htm#6744

Hubble zoomed in on the center only, for a closeup:
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-images-milky-ways-big-sister/

cheers
Allan

[Dave882]

Wonderful image with some really stunning detail. Great stuff

[strongmanmike]

Yaaay a big hearty welcome back to you and your enviable load of astro porn star imaging rigs Greg :evil2: :). It looks very grand (appropriate) and I like the brightness :thumbsup:

Mike
psst, funnily enough, I've almost completed my version of this baby too :D :)

[gregbradley]

Thanks Peter. I'll try that and see how it looks. This galaxy in particular is somewhat obscured by local stars.



Thanks Peeter, I appreciate the compliment.



Thanks Allan. It is a bit of a challenging target because it is rather dim.





Thanks Mike, much appreciated. I look forward to seeing your version.

Greg.

[Ryderscope]

It is clearly Pavo hunting season at the moment and you've bagged an excellent galaxy here Greg. Good to see that you getting all the new gear up and running.

CS,
Rodney

[CoolhandJo]

Wow clarity and detail is terrific. Lovely image all around the frame.

[petershah]

Thats beautiful Greg:thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Thanks Rodney. I have quite a few images to be put together.




Thanks very much for that.




Cheers Peter.