September 23, 2024

NGC 5907 – The Splinter Galaxy in Draco

NGC 5907 – The Splinter Galaxy in Draco

Telescope: Unitron 155 4” f/15 refractor, Atlas EQ-G

Camera: Canon EOS Ra full frame DSLR

Filter: 2” GSO IR Cut Filter

Guide scope: Orion 50mm Guidescope, ASI120MM, PHD, Dithered every 4 subs

Exposure: 17x180sec, ISO 1600, saved as RAW

Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction)

Flats: 32×1/10s sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, fair transparency

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Backyard EOS, Deepsky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop

NGC 5907, the Splinter Galaxy, is very slender edge-on spiral galaxy with a small central bulge and a pronounced dust lane. The dust lane shows some wonderful detail and gives the core a beautiful amber color. The galaxy itself is something of a giant lying 59 million light years away and 180,000 light years across.

NGC 5907 is currently well placed high in the overhead during the early evening.