Nebulae and Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC )

[MikeODay]

Nebulae and Clusters in the North East Quadrant of the Small Magellanic Cloud ( Tucana Constellation )

( Contains:  NGC 292, 299, 306, 330, 346, 361, 371, 395, 411, 416, 422 & IC  1611, 1612, 1624, 1641 ).

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a "small" spiral galaxy about 7000 light years in diameter and is one of our near neighbours. At 'only' around 200,000 light years distance, it shines brightly in the southern sky and is clearly visible to the naked eye even in moderately ligh polluted skies.  

Links:

https://500px.com/MikeODay

http://photo.net/photos/MikeODay

Details:

Image centre ~ RA 1h 2m, Dec -72deg 2'
Skywatcher Quattro 10" f4 Newtonian
Skywatcher AZ Eq6 GT Mount
Orion Short Tube 80mm guide scope & auto guider PHD2
Baader MPCC Mark 3 Coma Corrector & UHC-S 'nebula' filter
Nikon D5300 (unmodified)
Long exposure noise reuduction on 
Field of view (deg) ~ 1.35 x 0.90
38 x 200 sec ISO 800 over two nights
Pixinsight & Photoshop
11 & 12 October 2015 (re-processed 9 Apr 2016 )

[toxic]

very nice image Mike its a very bizy image

[laudropb]

Very nice image.

[MikeODay]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

[MikeODay]

The detail is lost in the reduced size and compressed image above and below.   To see far better detail in the numerous small nebulae and star clusters, click on the image then press the "Full Size" button to see the image full size.

Click on image and then press "Full Size" button ...

[MikeODay]

Some detail ...

 

[andyo]

Great shot Mike, not seen this galaxy before an unusual looking one

[MikeODay]

20 hours ago, andyo said:

Great shot Mike, not seen this galaxy before an unusual looking one

Thanks Andy.

As you can see from the position of the rectangular frame in the SkySafari screen capture below, my image covers just a small portion of the larger Small Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy.  Wider images that capture the whole galaxy confirm your observation that it is unusual; I am still facinated by the artificial looking hexagonal nebula that looks like the lens flare from a stopped down lens.

( SkySafari screen capture )