The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy ( NGC 1365 ) in the Constellation Fornax

The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy ( NGC 1365 ) in the Constellation Fornax

Below the equator, not seen from much of the Northern hemisphere, NGC 1365 passes very nearly directly overhead an observer situated near Cape Town, as Sir John Herschel was in November of 1837 when he discovered this “remarkable nebula” that is numbered 2552 in his book of observations from the Cape.

Not called a “nebula” now, of course, this striking object is one of the nearest and most studied examples of a barred spiral ( SB ) galaxy that also has an active galactic nuclei resulting in its designation as a Seyfert galaxy.

At around 60 M light years from Earth, NGC 1365 is still seen to occupy a relatively large area ( 12 by 6 arc minutes ) due to its great size; at some 200,000 light years or so across, NGC 1365 is nearly twice as wide as the Milky Way and considerably wider than both the Sculptor and Andromeda galaxies.

This High Dynamic Range ( HDR ) image is built up from multiple exposures ranging from 4 to 240 seconds with the aim of capturing the faint detail in the spiral arms of the galaxy whilst also retaining colour in the brightest star ( the orange-red 7th magnitude giant, HD 22425 ). Also, scattered throughout the image, and somewhat more difficult to see, are numerous and far more distant galaxies.

Mike O'Day

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Identification:

The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy
New General Catalogue - NGC 1365
General Catalogue - GC 731
John Herschel ( Cape of Good Hope ) # 2552 - Nov 28, 29 1837
Principal Galaxy Catlogue - PCG 13179
ESO 358-17
IRAS 03317-3618

RA (2000.0) 3h 33m 37.2 s
DEC (2000.0) -36 deg 8' 36.5"

10th magnitude Seyfert-type galaxy in the Fornaux cluster of galaxies
200 Kly diameter
60 Mly distance

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Capture Details:

Telescope: Orion Optics CT12 Newtonian ( mirror 300mm, fl 1200mm, f4 ).
Corrector: ASA 2" Coma Corrector Quattro 1.175x.
Effective Focal Length / Aperture : 1375mm f4.7

Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Guiding: TSOAG9 Off-Axis-Guider, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2, PHD2

Camera:
Nikon D5300 (unmodified) (sensor 23.5 x 15.6mm, 6016x4016 3.9um pixels)

Location:
Blue Mountains, Australia
Moderate light pollution ( pale green zone on darksitefinder.com map )

Capture ( 3, 7 & 8 Dec 2018 )
7 sets of sub-images with exposure duration for each set doubling ( 4s to 240s ) all at unity gain ( ISO 250).
140 x 240s + 10 each @ 4s to 120s
total around 9.7 hrs

Processing ( Pixinsight )
Calibration: master bias, master flat , master dark
Integration in 7 sets
HDR combination

Links:
500px.com/MikeODay
photo.net/photos/MikeODay
www.flickr.com/photos/mike-oday

Image Plate Solution
===================================
Resolution ........ 0.586 arcsec/px ( full size image )
Rotation .......... -0.003 deg ( North is up )
Field of view ..... 58' 37" x 38' 55"
Image center ...... RA: 03 33 36 Dec: -36 08 27
===================================

Taken on: December 17, 2018

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