NGC 2403 (Caldwell 7)

[Mark_C]

This galaxy for some reason seems to get little attention but has so much detail. It reminds me very much of M33!

This is an integration 87 x 5 min subs binned at 3x3, producing a pixel scale of roughly 0.83 "/pixel. These were unfortunately taken under moonlit skies so noise was an issue - with further integration under dark skies the noise levels would hopefully level out, I may revisit this one under better conditions.

Taken with a Celestron Edge HD 11" at F10 with an ASI2600MC on a ZWO AM5 mount.

 

 

 

[Clarkey]

Nice image. Always worth adding a bit of Ha to this one.

[Mark_C]

9 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Nice image. Always worth adding a bit of Ha to this one.

Thanks. 🙂 and agreed, it would certainly enhance the nebulousity of this galaxy significantly. I will definitely invest in a narrowband setup in the future as OSC shows its limitations here on Ha rich targets, not saying it's not do-able with the right filters but certainly takes a lot more time. Once I get an observatory set up I think I will make the switch over!

[Elp]

Have you tested NB with a reducer? You've done a great job at F10.

Edited April 21 by Elp

[Paul M]

It is indeed a very pleasant image, natural and easy on the eye. And yes, if I hadn't been told different, I'd have taken this as a very well presented M33, from an aesthetic point of view.

I dabble myself but, I aint no imager. I'm an appreciator of fine images and on the subject of NB and Mono, I sometimes find that harshly blended Ha layers can be quite "jerking" on an otherwise fine image. Just sayin'  

Not unlike taking portrait of your favorite niece and highlighting the zits... 😁 

[Mark_C]

9 hours ago, Paul M said:

It is indeed a very pleasant image, natural and easy on the eye. And yes, if I hadn't been told different, I'd have taken this as a very well presented M33, from an aesthetic point of view.

I dabble myself but, I aint no imager. I'm an appreciator of fine images and on the subject of NB and Mono, I sometimes find that harshly blended Ha layers can be quite "jerking" on an otherwise fine image. Just sayin'  

Not unlike taking portrait of your favorite niece and highlighting the zits... 😁 

Thank you, I appreciate the comments! 🙂

I know what you mean, sometimes the Ha areas can be overstretched and look a bit unusual. I could probably have stretched more out of the Ha regions but I'm not sure how difficult this would be with a OSC camera. Overall I'm quite happy how this has turned out but it definitely would have been interesting to see the outcome using narrowband filters vs just OSC!

 

[Mark_C]

14 hours ago, Elp said:

Have you tested NB with a reducer? You've done a great job at F10.

Haven't got a reducer (yet) but I may invest in one if I can find one at a decent price, unfortunately they're around £800 new for the Edge 11" so I've been reluctant to splash out 😞 

I do seem to be having great success with binning and bringing the pixel scale to a level where the image is no longer severely over sampled and of course doing so increases the SNR of the final image.

 

[Rodd]

Its nice to see a galaxy image that is not a neon blaze.  Just about a perfect image.  

[Ags]

Great capture!

[Mark_C]

6 hours ago, Rodd said:

Its nice to see a galaxy image that is not a neon blaze.  Just about a perfect image.  

Thanks, really appreciate this comment 🙂 I do try to keep any captures as natural as possible without going overboard,  I could have stretched this further but after experimenting I found it did have a detrimental effect on the end result!

 

6 hours ago, Ags said:

Great capture!

Thanks! 🙂 

[tomato]

Yes, the silvery tone is spot on IMHO, and the Ha regions are not 'in your face', nice job.👍