Fireworks galaxy at the end of galaxy season.
The fireworks galaxy!
Summer is really tightening its grip on the fragile night sky. Maybe we can get one, or a few more nights before autumn.
Based on the location in the sky, that is clear of obstructions, and when darkness is best, I found myself picking targets around Cygnus.
One target that I have been thinking of for a while is the Fireworks galaxy. It’s been in view on one occasion, but I never given it night of imagining.
It’s located on the border between the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus, just in the region I’m aiming at.
Don’t expect a firework at first test exposure! Many, brighter galaxies is much easier to make out in a test exposure of a few seconds. If it wasn’t for the plate solving I might still be looking for it!
But don’t think twice about finding and imaging this target! It is truly a nice little galaxy, bursting with Ha regions, which I really need to go back and image again to get.
Still limited by misalignment between the main OTA and the guide scope I’m doing 2min exposures. I think this would do better with longer exposures, but then we have a reason to go back next season when the OAG hopefully is installed again.
In the end we got about 30 frames in each color. Enough for a pretty little tourist shot.
A taster for a future project!
0:00 – 0:15 Intro
0:16: - 1:22 Getting ready!
1:23 – 4:07 Platesolving ftw!
4:08 – 4:48 Guiding!
4:49 – 5:41 Session ready
5:42 – 6:47 Morning glory!
6:48 – 7:13 Resulting image – The Fireworks galaxy!
7:14 – 7:29 The end!