NGC 1512 from remote

In 2024, I received a high-quality dataset of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512 from Telescope Live, acquired with one of their telescopes in Chile. The excellent observing conditions of the southern hemisphere provided very deep and detailed data.

The galaxy is located in the constellation Horologium at a distance of roughly 30–38 million light-years. It is a barred spiral galaxy (SBa) characterized by a prominent central bar structure that channels gas toward the inner regions of the galaxy. This inflow of material fuels intense star formation in a bright circumnuclear ring, which is clearly visible in deep images.

The galaxy forms a gravitationally interacting pair with the nearby dwarf companion NGC 1510. This interaction likely triggers additional star formation and contributes to the extended ultraviolet disk observed around NGC 1512. Deep images often reveal faint tidal features and large-scale star-forming regions in the outer spiral arms, making this system an interesting target for both scientific study and astrophotography.

The data calibration, registration and the final processing of the data was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:

Here is an overview of the used equipment and the exposure times:

• Date: 2024
• Location: Chile
• Telescope/Lense: Planwave CDK24
• Focal length [mm]: 3962
• Focal ratio: 6.5
• Mount: Mathis MI-1000/1250
• Camera: QHY 600M Pro
• Autoguiding: yes
• Filter: L:R:G:B
• Exposure time [min]: 145:150:120:165
• Resolution: 0.39″/px bin 2