NGC1532: This is a spiral galaxy visually within the constellation Eridanus (in the southern sky), locked in a gravitational battle with its smaller satellite NGC1531. Ultimately, the larger galaxy will absorb the smaller galaxy (as eventually our own Milky Way galaxy will absorb its satellite galaxies, such as the Large Magellanic Cloud). But the larger galaxy is being deformed a bit by the gravitation forces being exerted on it (NGC1532 is presenting to us edge-on; the distortion allows us to see some of the arms despite that, since it's not any longer contained in a fairly narrow disc). This pair is thought to be very similar to M51 and NGC5195. This is an outlying part of the Fornax galaxy cluster. The pinkish regions are active star-forming regions in this galaxy, and the bluish tinge is a result of clusters of bright young stars. Intense star-forming is a common result of gravitational interaction between galaxies. This galaxy is about the same size as our own Milky Way galaxy, about 100,000 light years across; it is over 50 million light years from us.

Technical Information:

LRGB: 360:225:225:210; All channels are the integration of 15-minute exposures through Astrodon filters. All images unbinned.

Equipment: 14.5" RCOS at about f/9, and an SBIG STL-11000M with internal filter wheel (Astrodon filter set), guided by a MOAG/AO-L combination, all riding on a Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial Mount.

Image Acquisition/Camera Control: Maxim DL, controlled with ACP, working in concert with TheSky v6.

Processing: All images calibrated (darks and dawn flats), aligned, combined and deconvolved (data used in the luminance layer only) in Pixinsight. Color combine in Pixinsight. Finish work (curves and levels, adjustment of contrast, High Pass Filter/Layer Mask, and some sharpening of the luminance layer) was done in Photoshop CS5.

Location: Data acquired remotely from Fair Dinkum Skies, Moorook, South Australia.

Date: Images taken on many nights in November and December of 2014. Image posted February 6, 2015.

CCD Chip temperature: -5C

Copyright 2014, 2015 Mark de Regt

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