A pair of spring galaxies

[andyc (Andy)]

A pretty rewarding trip to the dark skies of Nerriga, and a couple of images.

Seeing wasn't great, but imaging time is precious I got a couple of hours on NGC1097, and added a couple of hours on NGC300 to my effort of last year, with a big improvement in definition in the galaxy and the background clusters. I love the background galaxies around NGC300.

NGC300 - 4 hours (20 x 5 min, 150mm Newt from 2015, 27x 5min, 200mm Newt this year).
NGC1097 - 2 hours, 200mm f/5 Newt.
Both EOS 60D, HEQ5Pro mount.

A larger view of NGC1097 here.
A larger view of NGC300 here.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Nice structure in both targets. The colour in that galaxy cluster next to NGC 300 is especially fine.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Both reasonably faint targets so you've done well for limited time

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Nice work Andy on this two beaut galaxies, always good to get some dark sky time . Do you have a place in Nerriga or just drive there and setup in a public spot?

Mike

[andyc (Andy)]

Originally Posted by Placidus

Nice structure in both targets. The colour in that galaxy cluster next to NGC 300 is especially fine.

THanks, that's good praise to get - it's been a challenge to work on my colour balance, and I was hoping it's improving a bit

Originally Posted by Atmos

Both reasonably faint targets so you've done well for limited time

Thanks Colin!

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Nice work Andy on this two beaut galaxies, always good to get some dark sky time . Do you have a place in Nerriga or just drive there and setup in a public spot?

Mike

Thanks Mike, yes, dark sky time is precious. We have some good friends who have a 90 acre property down there. No electricity, but a fabulous spot to set up and relax with a beer, campfire (away from scope, and there's a hut if it's cold), and hopefully let the scope take a few frames. I don't get there often enough!

[RickS (Rick)]

Nice work, Andy! The background galaxies in the NGC300 FOV are especially cool.