November 2015 - Picture of the Month
This month I've gone for some objects that I'm unlikely to see through a telescope. It's time to visit the southern skies again with both colour and narrowband images of a star cluster and its nebula.
The Tarantula Nebula in Dorado
I'm a bit of a sucker for hydrogen alpha and the detail it seems to draw out of certain nebulous regions. This image by Steve Crouch from Australia brings out the extent of this gas cloud beautifully.
On the other hand full RGB colour can be impressive too. Which do you prefer?
Clicking on either image will open a new window with a larger version from Steve's site.
Steve's Description
This huge emission nebula complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud would more than cover the whole constellation of Orion if placed at the position of the Orion Nebula. It is visible with the naked eye as a hazy spot.
- Camera and Telescope
- STXL6303 and 36.8 cm Ritchey Chretien
- Exposure Details
- Ha=195m, OIII=210m, SII=225m, R=G=B=30m all unbinned. Ha, OIII and SII combined as luminance over RGB layer.
For more images from Steve please visit his CCD Astronomical Images from Canberra website.
