The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), an irregular satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, and one of the prime attractions of the southern hemisphere sky. At left is the Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070, while at upper right is the second brightest nebula in the LMC, NGC 1763, aka the LMC Lagoon. In between are an amazing number of nebulas, both magenta and cyan in tint, as well as clusters of stars. The LMC is 160,000 light years away, and is gravitationally bound to the Milky Way, though there is some dispute whether it is orbiting the Milky Way or is passing by. This field is 6° x 4°, which just encompasses the majority of the LMC's structure and features. I shot this Monday, March 24, 2014 from the Warrumbungles Mountain Motel grounds, near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia. This is a stack of 6 x 10 minute exposures with the Borg 77mm aperture astrographic lens, a 300mm f/4 system, and the Canon 5D MkII camera, filter modified by Hutech, at ISO 800. Shots had to dodge clouds moving through during the evening. Humidity was high from rain earlier in the day. But transparency was good when skies were clear.
The Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC, embedded in high haze adding the glow effect, accentuating star colours. To the left of centre is NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula complex. This is a stack of 4 x 8 minute exposures at f/4 with the Borg 77mm astrograph (300mm focal length) and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800. Taken from Coonabarabran, Australia, March 2014.
The area of northern Cygnus, showing the dark nebula known as LeGentil 3 north of Cygnus in the Milky Way, along with the bright emission nebulas of the North America Nebula and the Pelican Nebula near Deneb. This is a stack of ten 5-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 135mm Canon L-series telephoto and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 1600, tracked on the Kenko SkyMemo tracker with no guiding. Taken at the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party, August 16, 2012.
