Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6503
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NGC 6503, Dwarf Galaxy in Draco, OSC, 25-26 June 2016, David Dearden
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NGC 6503, Dwarf Galaxy in Draco, OSC, 25-26 June 2016

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Description

This less-frequently imaged dwarf galaxy caught my attention when a Hubble image was recently published noting that this galaxy, 18 million light years away, sits on the edge of a “Local Void,” a nearby region of space that has a paucity of galaxies sufficient to cause us to move away (due to the lack of gravitational attraction in that direction). I had problems acquiring the image due to failing plate solves and consequent failing meridian flips. I even went back to my Windows 7 installation of Sequence Generator Pro due to some weird plate solve failures (SGP would take the plate solve image and do one successful solve, then take another image, download it, and fail to start the plate solver; weird!). I had fun trying with this image anyway. Galaxy season has been a lot of fun this year.

Date: 25-26 Jun 2016

Subject: NGC 6503

Scope: AT8IN+High Point Scientific Coma Corrector

Filter: Baader Planetarium Fringe Killer

Mount: EQ-6 (EQMOD)+PEC

Guiding: Orion ST-80 + Antares 0.5x focal reducer + DSI Ic + PHD 2.6.1.1 (Win 10 ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc, no chiller CCD 20 °C

Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro 2.5.1.14 with Nebulosity 4.0.4 ASCOM camera driver (Windows 7) and SGP 2.5.1.16 (Windows 10)

Exposure: 24x600 s

Stacking: Neb 4, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, match histograms, trans+rot align, Deep Sky Stacker 1.5σ κ-σ stack without drizzle.

Processing: StarTools 1.4.316: Crop; Wipe; Develop: 82.13%; HDRptimize; Color:Scientific, 250% saturation; Deconvolute: 2.5 pix; Track: Smoothness 87%, 4.5 pix; Magic, shrink 1 pix. Photoshop CS6 + Astronomy Tools: Deep space noise reduction; Levels; Increase star color; Less crunchy more fuzzy; Astroframe.

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NGC 6503, Dwarf Galaxy in Draco, OSC, 25-26 June 2016, David Dearden