Large Magellanic Cloud - 55 mm at f/5.6

[Amaranthus]

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC, PGC 17223), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, visible from southern skies in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. At a distance of 163,000 light years, it is one of the closet galaxies, with a size of 10 billion solar masses and a diameter of about 14,000 light years. It is now recognized as a disrupted barred spiral galaxy (rather than irregular), and the main bar can be seen clearly in this image. The Tarantula Nebula and other smaller features are also visible.

The whole galaxy spans about 11 x 9 degrees of sky. I captured it using a Sony NEX-3 DSLR (APS-C sensor) with a 55mm lens at f/5.6 (235 subs at 30 sec each), mounted on an AZ-EQ6 GT (no guiding). I then framed the area of interest and up-scaled the image with 3x drizzle stacking in DSS. Post-processed in StarTools.

LMC_NEX3_55mm_f5.6.jpg (196.57 KiB) Viewed 3125 times

The image was taken in the dark skies of rural southern Tasmania, and the LMC was at an elevation of about 60 degrees for the capture.

Full details and a high-rez version (worth looking at) are here: http://www.astrobin.com/156460/

Of course, unmodded DSLRs have real limits for such objects. I'd love to be able to capture this with my mono QHY22, and get some H-alpha data etc. I just need to figure out the best lens to put in the front of my CCD. A future project to dream of...

(2nd image is with R and B channels swapped, and green capped to brown)