Core of the Small Magellanic Cloud

This is the largest mosaic I have ever tried to construct. It consists of 16 panels with over 1600 frames, 93 hours of exposure. The core of (SMC) using a 24” telescope.

All its gaseous colors and structures: twisting, looping, bubbling, and exploding onto the screen.  Nemours globular clusters and millions of stars are also visible. What a beautiful site it is.

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. Classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy, SMC contains several hundred million stars. It has a total mass of approximately 7 billion solar masses. At about 200,000 light-years away from us, the SMC is among the nearest intergalactic neighbors of the Milky Way and is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye.

The SMC is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere but can be fully glimpsed low above the southern horizon from latitudes south of about 15° north. The galaxy is located across both the constellations of Tucana and part of Hydrus, appearing as a faint hazy patch resembling a detached piece of the Milky Way. The SMC has an average apparent diameter of about 4.2° (8 times the Moon's) and thus covers an area of about 14 square degrees (70 times the Moon's). Since its surface brightness is very low, this deep-sky object is best seen on clear moonless nights and away from city lights. The SMC forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which lies 20° to the east, and like the LMC, it is a member of the Local Group. It is currently a satellite of the Milky Way but is likely a former satellite of the LMC.

Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson

Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2023

Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile

16 panel mosaic in Ha,O3,S2,R,G,B Bin 2x2

RGB 600 total frames-1 min exp-10 hours total.

Ha,O3,S2 1000 total frames-5min exp-83 hours total. 93 hours total exposure.

Enjoy,

 Mark Hanson and the SWOS Group