| Designation |
LMC & SMC, the Magellanic
Clouds |
| Object type |
Irregular galaxies of the Local
Group |
| Coordinates |
05h21min -68°27' (Dorado/Mensa)
resp. 00h53min -72°47' (Tucana) |
| Description |
As satellites of our Milky Way
these magnificent southern objects are only about 180.000 light years away,
15 times closer than the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31). They offer a multitude of
interesting objects for more detailed study: there are more than 200 NGC
(New General Catalogue) objects in the LMC alone. Prominent in the LMC is the pink Tarantula
Nebula, the only extra-galactic naked eye nebula. In the right hand
image, the foreground globular cluster NGC
104 (47 Tuc) outshines the SMC. The above images were
taken at the same scale on the same night: an interesting side by side
comparison of these objects that are separated by more than 20 degrees in
the night sky. In both cases, north is towards the
top.
See also a close-up of the SMC
.
|
| Exposure |
LRGB 20:20:25:40 min @ -15°C
- unguided |
| Camera |
SBIG ST-10XE + SBIG CFW-8 with
Astronomik Type II filter set |
| Optics |
Asahi Opt. Co. Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8
SLR objective lens |
| Mount |
Astro-Physics AP900GTO |
| Software |
MaxIm DL/CCD, DeBloomer, Sigma Pre Beta 11,
Registar, Adobe
Photoshop 6.0 |
| Location - Date - Time |
San Esteban (Chile) - 23Nov2003 -
04:30 UTC resp. 02:00 UTC |
| Conditions |
Transparency 5, Seeing 6, Temperature
+15°C |
