Small Magellanic Cloud
Constellation: Tucana, Hydrus
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a satellite dwarf irregular galaxy of the Milky Way, and a member of the Local Group of galaxies. It is located in the constellations Tucana and Hydrus. At a distance of 200’000 Ly, is one of the closest galaxies to our own (the Large Magellanic Cloud is approx. 37’000 Ly closer to the Milky Way). It size is bout 18’900 Ly across. To the naked eye, away from light pollution, its apparent diameter is about 8 times that of the Moon diameter (10°). Link to interactive sky chart.
The large globlar cluster to the west of the SMC is NGC 104, or 47 Tucanae. NGC 104 is the second brightest globular cluster after Omega Centauri with an apparent size of the full Moon. Its distance to Earth is approx. 15’000 Ly.
Dates:
Data acquired remotely between July and September 2023 using Martin’s equipment. It is composed of 6 panes.
His telescope is located in Australia (Observatory: Heaven’s second mirror, NSW).
Colour palette is HSO.
Telescope & Mount:
SharpStar 140mm (F4.8) on a Software Bisque Paramount ME II mount.
Imaging:
Camera: SBIG STXL16200, FW8G
Data:
Ha: 134x600s
Oiii: 184x600s
Sii: 216x600s
Total integration time: 89h
The image below was taken in November and December 2020 by Telescope Live: https://telescope.live/home (Australia, Heaven’s Mirror observatory).
Telescope & Mount: Takahashi FSQ-106ED on a Paramount MX+ mount.
Camera: FLI ML 16803 (bin 1×1)
Data: Astrodon Ha: 8x300s + 6x600s; Astrodon O-III: 7x300s + 6x600s; Astrodon S-II: 6x600s; Total integration time: 4h 15′
The smaller globular cluster to the north of the SMC is NGC 362, which is also located in the constellation Tucana. It is located approx. 2’929 Ly from Earth.