Casitas de Gila, Gila, NM, April 7 - 10, 2024
Description:
This image captures a beautiful collection of galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major. The largest galaxy is NGC 3718, also known as Arp 214. It is a twisted spiral, type 2 Seyfert AGN, that is 52 million light years from Earth. The smaller galaxy is NGC 3729 and is 60 million light years away. The distortions in NGC 3718 are likely due to gravitational interactions with NGC 3729, which is also slightly distorted. The small group of five interacting galaxies just below NGC 3718 is known as Hickson 56 and is about 425 million light years from Earth.
Imaging details:
Celestron 9.25” Edge HD SCT with 0.7x Focal Reducer (FL = 1650mm at f/7)
Celestron Off-axis Guider with ZWO ASI 174 mini guide camera
Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini 2 controller
ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro cooled monochrome camera (-10C)
36mm Chroma filters: 5nm Hydrogen-alpha, Luminance, Red, Green and Blue
Software: Sequence Generator Pro, ASTAP plate solving, PHD2 guiding,
Losmandy Gemini ASCOM mount control and web client interface,
SharpCap Pro for polar alignment with a Polemaster camera,
PixInsight 1.8.9-2,
Photoshop 2024
Hydrogen-alpha 10 min x 12 subframes (120 min), Gain 100, Offset 64, 1x1 binning
Luminance 2 min x 144 subframes (288 min), Gain 100, Offset 64, 1x1 binning
Red 4 min x 24 subframes (96 min), Gain 100, Offset 64, 1x1 binning
Green 4 min x 23 subframes (92 min), Gain 100, Offset 64, 1x1 binning
Blue 4 min x 22 subframes (88 min), Gain 100, Offset 64, 1x1 binning
Total integration time: 11.4 hours
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