Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Dorado (Dor)  ·  Contains:  NGC 1763  ·  NGC 1966  ·  NGC 2018  ·  NGC 2048  ·  NGC 2070  ·  NGC 2077  ·  Tarantula nebula  ·  The star βMen  ·  The star δDor  ·  The star εDor  ·  The star η1Dor  ·  The star η2Dor  ·  The star θDor  ·  The star μMen  ·  The star νDor  ·  The star π1Dor  ·  The star π2Dor
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Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm
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Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm

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Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm
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Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm

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Description

My image of this amazing Southern Beauty - the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is a giant, naked-eye, irregular galaxy (obs: in Wikipedia, it's said that it has a "prominent bar in its center" and that it might have been a barred spiral galaxy in the past).

This is a wonderful DSO, and, from modestly dark skies (I believe Bortle 5 or less) it can be easily recognized and observed with the naked eye. If you have ever seen this in person, you should know that the term "Cloud" is extremely appropriate, as it indeed look like a small cloud in the Southern Dorado Constellation. If you have never seen this beauty (and other southern objects), I must say that this is a wonderful object, and it is totally worth travelling Down Under (especially between March and May).

The galaxy is just enormous, as you can see, it covers almost the entire 85mm (APS-C) or 135mm (FF) field of view. WIth a 7x50 binoculars, it look detailed and complet, and the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) is visible from modestly dark skies, but better seen on the darker skies. In this image NGC 2070 is seen in a green colour, but modified cameras show the extent of the H-alpha nebulosity in this region, and the Tarantula shines in red.

This image was the 2nd set from the same night I imaged M45, and that was a great night until 11pm. I managed to capture 39 minutes of data, my 2nd longest set to date (the 1st beign M45 at 42min). I am happy with the result, and it turned out to be better than expected.

*Although I shoot this, at f/3.2, I think my 70-200 is presenting a problem with its diaphragm. If you shoot the same thing at f/2.8 and f/3.2, with equivalent exposures (shutter 1/3 stop slower), at f/3.2 the image is much darker. I think that the aperture read is different from the "real" one. I believe that f/3.5 to f/4 would be more appropriate as the correct f-stop.

Taken from 22ºS Rural skies (Bortle 3-4), at Cristina, MG, Brazil. Thanks for seeing.

Camera: Unmodded T4i/650D at ISO 800

Lens: Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8, at 85mm and f/3.2* (f/3.5-f/4)

Exposure Detail: 26x90s; total 39 minutes.

*The -B- version is a little bit more cropped than the -A- version, and is a little darker*

*The -C- version had the background grandient removed using masking in CS2 with Color Balance tool*

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  • Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
    Original
  • Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
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  • Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
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  • Final
    Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)
    D

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Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC at 85mm, Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)