This is my first "real" image taken from the new observatory at Terroux
At 17.5hrs total exposure, taken over 4 nights, it is also my longest exposure so far of any object taken with the AG12 and the first to pass the 1000min mark
Unfortunately some of the Luminance data was collected while a crescent to first 1/4 Moon was still up and the seeing varied considerably over the 4 nights but in the end I decided to use every single sub to make the image.
A rarely imaged galaxy, NGC 289 is listed in LEDA as quite small at 5.6' X 4.2' with the brightest inner reverse 'S' shaped area only about 3' in diameter. However, in a deep exposure with the 12" at F3.8 it is clearly revealed to be much bigger with the faintest decernable very low surface brightness outer spiral arms (~
27mag/sq arc sec) spanning a whopping 14 arc min! So, at the published distance of some 75 Million light years this equates to an actual dimension for the galaxy of some 300 000 light years across...and that's huge
Click on the links below
Hope you enjoy the view
NGC 289
300 000 light years across
Full Frame Image
Close in crop of core
Also attached two nightscapes taken on the first (moonless) night as the Milky Way was waving good bye and then later Orion was charging overhead
The observatory and equipment all performed flawlessly for all 4 nights so I'm very happy about that.
Mike