NGC 2403

[AKB]

This recent post in the imaging section...

...prompted me to go look for myself.

Last night (Feb 22) didn't give me the clarity that I was hoping for, but along with trying some long-exposure imaging, I spared five minutes on this.  (I had meant to time this for 22:22:22, but forgot that that was the plan!)

NGC 2403 (Caldwell 7) has some impressive star-forming regions (à la M33.)  The supernova SN 2004dj has been nearest and brightest supernova in 21st century.  

According to Wiki: "The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel in 1788. Edwin Hubble detected Cepheid variables in NGC 2403 using the Hale telescope, making it the first galaxy beyond the Local Group within which a Cepheid was discovered."

Sadly, my image is not as impressive as either the image, or the statistics, above.  But it was the first night out for a while...

I trawled the EEVA reports and AFAIK it's been a while since this was featured:

• Dec 2015 – https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/258284-some-nice-galaxies-from-last-night/#comment-2825103
• Jan 2016 – https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/261982-gravitationally-lensed-twin-quasar/#comment-2868812

 

Tony

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by AKB

[Mike JW]

Hi Tony , that has come out well and in 5 minutes

Mike

[Martin Meredith]

Its been a few years since I looked at this marvellous galaxy (6 to be exact) and I obviously need to go back to it in colour/Ha. This is a shot captured using LodestarLive (complete with overexposed blocky stars)

[PatG]

By coincidence I captured NCG2403 this evening.

What a lovely galaxy.

My attempt is a poor cousin to the images above but this was my first evening on EAA for several years so good to get back in the saddle!

Not sure what's causing the seagull shaped star trails  - any ideas?

Pat 

[Martin Meredith]

The seagull shapes are hot pixels. If you're using StarlightLive there is (I believe) and option to get rid of them; alternatively, you can apply darks which will have the same effect.

On the plus side they provide a nice way to diagnose mount movement! 

Martin

 

 

 

[PatG]

Thanks Martin, I did wonder if they were hot pixels. 

 

[AKB]

43 minutes ago, PatG said:

By coincidence I captured NCG2403 this evening.

Pat, that looks good, welcome back to EAA/EEVA.  Can you say something about the gear you’re using, both hardware and software?

I wouldn’t intrinsically worry about the ‘seagulls’ – it’s a sort of free ‘dither’!  What you need is some kind of median or percentile stacking, rather than a straight mean.  Flats would help with the background too, if it’s not too much faff.  Depends on your capture software of course.  It’s a long time since I’ve used SLL, and now rely on Martin’s very own Jocular package. 
 

Let’s hope for some upcoming opportunities to share more of these observations. 
 

Tony

Edited February 27, 2022 by AKB

[PatG]

Hi Tony

Thanks for the feedback, its good to be able to do some EAA again.

I just love the fact that it allows one to observe DSO that would otherwise be out of the reach of the visual observer, particularly when faced with severe LP.

This evening I was using a 100mm refractor at F8 on a G11 mount with a Lodestar Mono X2 camera and using Starlight Live software on Windows 10. 

Its the first time I have tried this configuration for EAA, but it seemed to work OK.  It was only a brief session.

I  started off trying to use Sharpcap but it kept crashing and Im not familiar with it so switched to SLL. 

I've not done darks and flats before but at some point I will give that a go.

Fingers crossed for some more clear nights.

Pat

 

 

        

 

[Mike JW]

Hi Pat,

I began EEA using the Lodestar Mono X2 with SLL, then upgraded to the Ultrastar with SLL and got much better results. Then when Jocular came along I switched to using Jocular (still have to capture with SLL), which has revolutionised my captures. Combined with the enthusiasm of the contributors in this forum to make the posts observational/links to articles etc, my 'visual' journey of the last three years has been fascinating and very fulfilling.

I shall look forward to more of your posts.

Mike