NGC 253, Sculptor Galaxy, OSC, 12 Oct 2015 (David Dearden)

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Sculptor (Scl) · Contains: NGC 253 · Sculptor galaxy

NGC 253, Sculptor Galaxy, OSC, 12 Oct 2015

This is the first test of my full imaging setup (including the affected optics) after the “Sprinkler Disaster.” Everything is working, although this image is not as good as the one I got last year. I think the collimation is still a little off, because I had trouble getting fine focus at the levels I’m accustomed to. I had hoped that using 600 s subs would bring out a little more, but if so it doesn’t show up in this image. This galaxy is one of my favorite targets, but it’s pretty low on the southern horizon from my site in northern Utah. It was an easy acquisition using the PicGoto from β Ceti. Conditions were extremely good: very clear, no wind, no Moon.

Date: 12 Oct 2015

Subject: NGC 253, Sculptor or Silver Coin Galaxy

Scope: AT8IN

Filter: Baader Fringe Killer

Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors, PicGoto Simplificado)

Guiding: Orion ST-80 + DSI Ic + PHD 2.5.0.1 (Win 7 ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc, no chiller CCD 15 °C

Acquisition: Nebulosity 4.0.3, no dither

Exposure: 24x600 s

Stacking: Neb 4, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, match histograms, deBayer & square, trans+rot align, DSS 2x drizzle 1.75 average κ-σ stack.

Processing: StarTools 1.4.305 Crop; Wipe 75%; Develop 70.13%; HDR optimize; Color: scientific, 265%; Deconvolute 6 pix; Track 6.8 pix, Smoothness 88%; Magic: shrink 5 pixels. CS6 Astronomy Tools deep space noise reduction; space noise reduction; local contrast enhance; increase star color; make stars smaller; liquify/pucker; levels & curves; Astroframe.

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Status	Advanced failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	812871
PixInsight job	5A85TWE36FBUHNIWL60ABHWAIHBM0OJI
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	PLATE_SOLVING_IMAGE

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NGC 253, Sculptor Galaxy, OSC, 12 Oct 2015

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