NGC 1579 and Surrounding Dust Lanes
Here’s the first of my processed astrophotos from my Little Mount Hoffman imaging trip this year. NGC 1579 is a faint, somewhat low contrast target, perfect for the excellent Bortle scale 2 darkness skies sitting over 7,300′ in elevation.
NGC 1579 is referred to as the “Trifid of the North”, since it resembles the popular Trifid Nebula (M20). NGC 1579, however, is much fainter and contains more subtle color. I particularly like the peach color in contrast with the blue reflection nebula.
With 15 minute sub-exposures with -20ºC CCD temperature, I gave the new QHY16200A a thorough workout. The camera has been a great match for the AP130GT. And this is the first imaging session with the dedicated AP field flattener for the 2.7″ focuser on my 130 Gran Turismo. I had previously used an Astro-Tech field flattener which worked well, but the larger 16200 CCD was better suited to a fully matched field flattener.
Taken 8/30-8/31/2016
AP130GT
QHY16200A @ -20ºC
15 x 15 min L
5 x 15 min each for RGB