Stunning Astrophotographs

[KmH]

From Dan Crowson:
Note - I added some links to parts of the quote.

The Draco Trio - consists of NGC 5981 (edge-on spiral at the right), 5982 (elliptical in the center) and 5985 (face-on spiral at the left). All are located approximately 100 million light-years away.
Imaged over seven nights in March, 2016 from Rancho Hidalgo (Animas, New Mexico) with a SBIG STF-8300M on an Astro-Tech AT12RCT at f/8 2432mm.
Luminance – 27x600s – 270 minutes – binned 1x1
RGB – 8x300s – 40 minutes each – binned 2x2
390 minutes total exposure – 6 hours 30 minutes

In addition to the 3 main subject galaxies, looking at the original 3352 x 2532 photograph I see an additional 22 smaller and fainter galaxies.

All sizes | NGC 5981 + 5982 + 5985 - LRGB | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[KmH]

Using my 12" telescope I would only be able to glimpse the big galaxies in that guy's image as faint smugges of light if I was at a truly dark observing sight.
From where I normally observe I wouldn't be able to see them at all.

 

[KmH]

He used a small, 2.8" aperture refracting telescope & 7.7 hours of exposure.
Exposure details, filters, and equipment used are listed:
August 2016 - jlandy - CN Imaging/Sketching Contest Winners - Photo Gallery - Cloudy Nights