NGC 1313

GALAXY IN RETICULUM

(ra: 03,18.3 / dec -66:30)

October 2012, -  Camping La Porteña, Areco, Buenos Aires - Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Galaxy

VISUAL BRIGHTNESS: 9

APPARENT DIAMETER: 8.5 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 15 Million lights years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: ORION OPTICS UK 6" f5 Newtonian

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

GUIDING: LodeStar in Synta 70/400 refractor / PHD Guiding

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set

SKY CONDITIONS: Rural Skies.

EXPOSURES: LRGB (100,20,20,20)

PROCESSING: Images Plus / Photoshop CS2

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

Deep South in the Constellation of Reticulum, lies this asymmetric shaped Galaxy which is also labeled as a Starburst Galaxy. There is evidence of brilliant clouds and massive blue stars scattered though its disc which spans through 50.000 light years. NGC 1313 is also rich in powerful Wolf Rayet stars of which 70 candidates where detected.(*)

The Orion Optics 750 mm focal length gave a nice FOV of approximately 1.30 º times 1º, so also interesting to see the dust clouds around the Galaxy. Such dust was brought by 60 minutes of luminance at 2x2 and Images Plus DDP. Then merged with the full resolution image but just the dim dusty areas.

(*) Free adaptation from Robert Gendler essay on NGC 1313