IC342

[alan4908]

I thought I'd have a go at imaging a more "challenging" galaxy, so I picked IC342.  Although it is relatively close, it is oriented only slightly away from the plane of our own Milky Way, so when you view it you are looking through all the dust and debris of our own galaxy. As a consequence it is quite faint and the dust scatters blue more than red light.  According to the Rubin Kier in "The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets" you should expect a muddy colour.  I think I qualify.  I found post processing this object quite challenging, mainly because the dust lanes are so faint they end up disappearing into the engulfing background stars. I therefore decided on a strategy to process the starfield and galaxy separately.  Given the relatively small apparent size (18 x 17 arcmins) and my relatively large FOV, I was happy with the amount of core detail, although a bit disappointed with the dimness of the dust lanes, despite my relatively long exposure.   LIGHTS: 53 x 600s; DARKS: 40; BIAS: 100; FLATS:40 all at -20C.   

Alan

[Ohm]

Very Impressive. Good work! One heck of a camera too!

 

[alan4908]

Ohm - Thanks for the complement  and yes, I also like my one shot colour CCD !

Alan

[PeterCPC]

Not seen that one before. Lovely image.

Peter

[alan4908]

Thanks Peter.  Yes, it doesn't appear very often.

Of the images that do appear, I noticed that some people try to put back the lost blue into the galaxy thereby attempting to mitigate the scattering effect of the dust and debris of our own galaxy.  I decided to keep the colours more "natural".

Alan