Full resolution crop
A star cluster (NGC 346), within a nebula (N66) located 210,000 light years away in the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) galaxy.
The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds of ionised Oxygen and deep red of ionised Hydrogen. The cluster is made up of
bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, in front of and behind the cluster
of bright giant OB class stars, excited to emit light by the intense radiation flooding from these giant stars. Behind the clouds
of the nebula can be seen a large cluster of orange stars, whose light has been reddened by the intervening dust.
Orion Optics UK AG12 F3.8
Starlightxpress TRIUS PRO-814 Midi Combi PRO Blue Edition incl. CFW & OAG unit
FLI Atlas Focuser
Ha OIII RGB = 640, 510, 75, 75, 75min total 23hrs
Astronomik Deep-Sky RGB HaOIII filters
-20C chip temp, flats used but no dark frames.
Focal length 1120mm
Image scale 0.68"/pix
Guide Camera: Starlightxpress Lodestar PRO
Comments
Data collected over five nights 29 Sept & 3, 11, 14 and 15 Oct 2025
Dark and transparent conditions, with good to excellent seeing (1.3" - 1.8")**
**NB: No drizzle guide, upscaling, Blur Exterminator or other AI based sharpening, was used on this
data, this is the native 0.68"/pix image scale, using just traditional Richardson Lucy deconvolution.
Seeing (FWHM) quality at Eagleview:
Excellent: <1.6"
Good: 1.6" - 1.9"
Acceptable: 2.0" - 2.3"
Poor: >2.3"
Most common FWHM value: 1.6"/1.7"
Taken from Eagleview Observatory:
https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/eagleview_observatory
Equipment setup:
https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173097781/original
Some links to equipment used to take this image:
Sidereal Trading
https://www.siderealtrading.com.au/
StarlightXpress CCD Cameras and imaging equipment
http://www.sxccd.com/products
Finger Lakes Instrumentation CCD cameras:
http://www.flicamera.com/
Gerd Neumann and Astronomik filters:
http://www.astronomik.com/en/home
http://www.gerdneumann.net/
MSB Software & Astroart Camera control and Image processing software
http://www.msb-astroart.com/
