The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in LRGB

RA center: 05h21m47s.61

DEC Centre: -69°43′27″.1

Date: 7. - 8. January 2024

Location: Chile / Chilescope

Telescope: Nikkor 200mm f/2 IF-ED, remote

Recording camera: FLI Microline 16200

Mount: 10 Micron 1000HST

Exposure time: 6h 

Frames:

  RGB: 36 x 300″

  Lum: 36 x 300″

Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Skylum Luminar AI


The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is 160.000 light-years from the Milky Way  and part of the Local Group. It is located relatively low in the southern sky in the constellation Dorado (Swordfish) and is therefore easy to observe from Chile. With an extent of 14.000 light years, it is a small galaxy. Due to its appearance, the LMC is one of the irregular dwarf galaxies. The irregular shape and central bar suggest that tidal interactions with the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have distorted the LMC from a classic bar spiral to its current, more chaotic appearance.