The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253 / Caldwell 65)

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The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253 / Caldwell 65)

[Public Domain] 4 Nov 2018 Dylan O'Donnell
CATEGORY : Astrophotography, Notable
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I haven’t done a great deal of galaxy photography as I find it challenging.. but I think this might be my best attempt at a distant galaxy yet. Like most galaxies (with a few exceptions) it looks particularly small through a telescope, so you really need to get in close to get a shot like this. I used my maximum available focal length (2350mm) at F10 and took exposures over 4 nights, in mono broadband, RGB colour and hydrogen alpha narrowband to show the red nebula regions throughout it.

This galaxy is about 11 million light years away and like our Milky Way, had a super massive black hole somewhere in the middle near the bright area.

The techy stuff…
Celestron 9.25″ Edge HD @ F10
95 x 2m Mono Broadband (QHY9 CCD)
41 x 3m RGB Colour (QHY12 CCD)
33 x 2m Hydrogen Alpha (QHY9 CCD)
Total 6.3 hours integration

NOTEABLE : This image was published in Nature. Yes, that Nature! In a paper release about Y-ray magnetar emissions from NGS 253!

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EQUIPMENT DYLAN USED
Here is some of the gear this photo was made with. Click for info