This panorama features two striking arches: Namibia’s iconic Spitzkoppe Arch in the foreground and the luminous arch of the Milky Way spanning the sky above it.
But how many galaxies can you spot here? Four are prominently visible. The most recognizable, of course, is the Milky Way, our home galaxy.
On the far left of the image are the Magellanic Clouds, two dwarf galaxies currently passing close to the Milky Way and interacting with its gravitational pull. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) hugs the horizon, while the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) sits higher in the sky. The bright "star" near the SMC is 47 Tucanae, the second-brightest globular cluster in the Milky Way. Containing millions of stars, it coincidentally aligns almost perfectly with the more distant SMC.
The fourth galaxy appears as a small smudge on the far right of the image. Despite its modest appearance, this is the Andromeda Galaxy, the largest member of our local group of galaxies, boasting an impressive diameter of 150,000 light-years.
EXIF
Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by EOS 4Astro
Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
IDAS NBZ filter
Sky:
Panorama of 10 panels, each a stack of 7x45s @ ISO1600, unfiltered & 3x 105s @ ISO6400, filtered, f/2
Foreground:
Panorama of 10x 150s @ ISO3200, f/2.8
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