NGC 300 - an obliquely angled spiral galaxy in Sculptor

Image Title: NGC 300 - an obliquely angled spiral galaxy in Sculptor

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Date image was taken: September 06, 2023

Location: Wattle Flat, NSW, Australia

Image Description and Details: NGC 300. A beautiful spiral galaxy in Sculptor. It looks face-on but is actually tilted at nearly 45 degrees, so half way to edge on.At 6 million light years away it is one of the closest galaxies to our own.

Interestingly some of the spiral arms seem to cross over each other. It is likely that the gravitational tug of a nearby galaxy NGC 55, which is about 1 million ly away is distorting the spiral arms. There are lovely knots of hydrogen gas, given away by the pink hydrogen alpha emissions from these regions. The core has older yellow stars, whilst the spiral arms burn bright with young, hot blue stars.

There is a plethora of distant galaxies that can be seen right through this gorgeous foreground spiral so relatively nearby.

Equipment Details: OTA: C14 EdgeHD

Mount: Paramount MEII

Camera: SBIG 16803

Filters: Astronomik 50mm square unmounted Ha & LRGB

Total Integration Time: 28.2 hours (LRGB 17.2 hours, Ha 11.0 hours)

Luminance: 26 approved x 600 secs

Red: 27 approved x 600 secs

Green: 25 approved x 600 secs

Blue: 25 approved x 600 secs

Ha: 22 approved x 1800 secs

Bias: 35

Darks: 35

Flats: 20 per colour channel

Copyright: Niall MacNeill

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