2018 May 11 ~ The Large Magellanic Cloud & the Tarantula Nebula
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Photographed 11 km east-southeast of Coober Pedy, South Australia, long. 134.85° E., lat. 27.08° S., between 23.10 and 23.44 CAST (Central Australian Standard Time)
* Altitude of centre of LMC at time of exposures: 20°, declining to 17.5°
* Temperature 10° C.
* Total exposure time: 16 minutes
* 540 mm focal length telescope
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Description:
The LMC is satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way that is part of the Local Group of galaxies, lies about 163,000 light years from us, and has a diameter of about 14,000 light years. Nearby is the smaller galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).
To the unaided eye in a dark sky site the LMC is a large, faint glowing patch that appears detached from the band of the Milky Way.
From Wikipedia:
"Although both clouds have been easily visible for southern nighttime observers well back into prehistory, the first known written mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was by the Persian astronomer `Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Shirazi, (later known in Europe as "Azophi"), in his Book of Fixed Stars around 964 AD.
The next recorded observation was in 1503–4 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter about his third voyage. In this letter he mentions "three Canopes [sic], two bright and one obscure"; "bright" refers to the two Magellanic Clouds, and "obscure" refers to the Coalsack.
Ferdinand Magellan sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519, and his writings brought the LMC into common Western knowledge. The galaxy now bears his name.
Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, suggest the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may be moving too fast to be orbiting the Milky Way."
The Tarantula Nebula is a region of glowing hydrogen gas within the LMC. It is extremely luminous, so much so that if it were at the distance of the Orion Nebula it would cast shadows.
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For a version of this photo WITH LABELS, click on your screen to the RIGHT of the photo, or click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/42979795051
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This is the telescope and mount that I used for my astrophotography on this trip:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/28602350028
__________________________________________
Technical information:
Nikon D810a camera body on Tele Vue 101is 101 mm (4") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Sky-Watcher HEQ5 equatorial mount
Fourteen stacked subframes - each frame:
ISO 2500; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4, 540 mm focal length, unguided (with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)
Subframes stacked in RegiStar;
Processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness / contrast, levels, colour balance, masking of centre of Tarantula Nebula)
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2018 May 11 ~ The Large Magellanic Cloud & the Tarantula Nebula
****************************************************************************
Photographed 11 km east-southeast of Coober Pedy, South Australia, long. 134.85° E., lat. 27.08° S., between 23.10 and 23.44 CAST (Central Australian Standard Time)
* Altitude of centre of LMC at time of exposures: 20°, declining to 17.5°
* Temperature 10° C.
* Total exposure time: 16 minutes
* 540 mm focal length telescope
___________________________________________
Description:
The LMC is satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way that is part of the Local Group of galaxies, lies about 163,000 light years from us, and has a diameter of about 14,000 light years. Nearby is the smaller galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).
To the unaided eye in a dark sky site the LMC is a large, faint glowing patch that appears detached from the band of the Milky Way.
From Wikipedia:
"Although both clouds have been easily visible for southern nighttime observers well back into prehistory, the first known written mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was by the Persian astronomer `Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Shirazi, (later known in Europe as "Azophi"), in his Book of Fixed Stars around 964 AD.
The next recorded observation was in 1503–4 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter about his third voyage. In this letter he mentions "three Canopes [sic], two bright and one obscure"; "bright" refers to the two Magellanic Clouds, and "obscure" refers to the Coalsack.
Ferdinand Magellan sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519, and his writings brought the LMC into common Western knowledge. The galaxy now bears his name.
Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, suggest the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may be moving too fast to be orbiting the Milky Way."
The Tarantula Nebula is a region of glowing hydrogen gas within the LMC. It is extremely luminous, so much so that if it were at the distance of the Orion Nebula it would cast shadows.
__________________________________________
For a version of this photo WITH LABELS, click on your screen to the RIGHT of the photo, or click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/42979795051
__________________________________________
This is the telescope and mount that I used for my astrophotography on this trip:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/28602350028
__________________________________________
Technical information:
Nikon D810a camera body on Tele Vue 101is 101 mm (4") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Sky-Watcher HEQ5 equatorial mount
Fourteen stacked subframes - each frame:
ISO 2500; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4, 540 mm focal length, unguided (with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)
Subframes stacked in RegiStar;
Processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness / contrast, levels, colour balance, masking of centre of Tarantula Nebula)
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