|
|
Click the image for a larger
FOV.
(2610 x 1728 1.03 MB)
|
Instrument |
12.5" RCOS @ ~f/9
(2880 mm fl) at 0.64 arcsec/pixel. Shown at 0.86 arcsec/pixel. |
|
Mount |
Paramount ME |
|
Camera |
SBIG STL-11000 w/
FW8-STL filter wheel, AstroDon Gen II LRGB Filters. |
|
Acquisition Data |
2/25/2012 to 3/24/2012 Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDAutoPilot5
& CCDSoft. AOL guided. |
|
Exposure |
|
Lum |
390
min. (13 x 30 min. bin 1x1) |
|
RGB |
405 min. ( 9 x
15 min. each bin (2x2) |
RGB ratios are 1.00,
0.97 & 1.09 |
|
Software |
-
CCDSoft, CCDStack,
Photoshop CS6, PixInsight and Noel Carboni's actions.
-
A standard
image-train calibration was used, as determined by
eXcalibrator v4.30, and then adjusted for altitude
extinction.
-
CCDBand-Aid
to repair
KAI-11000M
vertical bars.
-
CCDStack to
calibrate all sub exposures, register and stack the color and create the RGB image.
-
PixInsight
processing includes registering and stacking the luminance,
gradient repair, non-linear stretching with HistogramTransformation,
HDRMultiscaleTransform and LRGB creation.
-
PhotoShop for the final
touch-up.
-
Noiseware 5, a PhotoShop plug-in.
|
|
Comment |
The galaxy is shown
rotated 45° clockwise.
NGC 2523 is a barred
spiral galaxy at a distance of about 155 million light-years towards
the constellation Camelopardalis. Edward Swift discovered the galaxy
in 1885.
The galaxy is also item number 9 in the Arp catalog and is described
as a spiral galaxy with split arms. One of the two main arms, that
would form a grand design pattern, branches into two narrow arms.
NGC 2523 also has a remarkably prominent inner ring that just
encloses the 47 kly long bar.
|
|
