(Click on image for full size version)
| Description: | This galaxy is the brightest of the Sculptor
group, which is the nearest to our own local group. It is 10 million
light years distant. |
| Exposure Data: | 10/31/2002. LRGB: 8x10m, 4x7m, 4x7m, 4x10m, RGB 2x2. -15°C, 1.0 arc-sec./pixel. |
| Processing: | Acquired via script with Maxim, reduced and aligned in Mira, L
50x RL in
AIP4WIN,
Debloomer, RGB combine in Maxim, LRGB combine, curves, levels and other
processing in Photoshop. |
| Optical System: | 10” Ritchey-Chretien @ F/7.2, ST-8E USB NABG/CFW-8A
CCD camera, guided by FSQ-106/STV, Paramount ME mount. |
| Comments: | Average deconvolved FWHM was 2.8 arc-sec.
Due to the low elevation and shooting over Tucson, a nearby star field was
also taken with to be used as a source for gradient correction in Mira.
RGB combine ratios were 1:1.1:1.3 to correct somewhat for extinction. |