NGC 6744 is one of the skies finest spiral galaxies and very similar to our own Milky Way galaxy!
Apart from the countless background galaxies visible across the frame, this image appears to be
covered in smoke...well..actually, it is! The slight smokyness is in fact a curtain of very faint
dust known as Galacitc Cirrus in our own Milky Way. This faint dust, shining at around 27mag/squ
arc sec, can be faintly seen throughout the image particularly in the upper left region. To see the
Galactic Cirrus dust more clearly, see the enhanced luminance version - link below.
AP152 F7.5 Starfire APO refractor with 4" field flattener
FLI ProLine11002 CCD & CFW-2-7
LRGB = 220 60 60 60min (all bin 1X1) Astronomik filters
-35C chip temp, darks and flats (AstroHandy LightRing used for flats)
12MPPS download speed = 1.5sec/full frame download at bin 1X1.
FOV = 1.8deg X 1.2deg at 1.6"/pix
Guide Camera: Starlightxpress SXVH9
Comments:
Taken from Wiruna, the dark sky site of the Astronomical Society of NSW in very
windy conditions and poor seeing, see set-up at Wiruna here: