Omega Centauri
19-Apr-2017
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars.
It is so distinctive from the other globular clusters that it is thought to have an alternate origin as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy.
Image:
- 54x 60s Red bin2x2 + 10 flat + 50x dark + 120x bias
- 23x 60s Green bin2x2 + 10 flat + 50x dark + 120x bias
- 49x 60s Blue bin2x2 + 10 flat + 50x dark + 120x bias
Total exposure 2 hours 6 minutes.
Hardware:
- Skywatcher Black Diamond 80ED
- SkyWatcher EQ8 Pro Mount
- QSI 683-ws Camera @ -15°C
- Astronomik typ 2c RGB filters
- Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 Autoguider
- Innovations Foresight On Axis Guider
- Starlight Instruments Focus Boss II
Location:
- Orange zone in Brisbane, Australia. (Bortle 7)
Software:
- Planning & camera alignment with Aladin 9
- Captured with AstroArt 6
- Guiding with PHD2 + PHD_Dither
- Live focusing with FocusLock
- CCDInspector: Image analysis & rejection
- CCDStack 2+: Calibrate, align, stack, combine RGB.
- Photoshop CC: Curves, high pass filter, color balance, saturation.