How to photograph the 47 Tucanae (NGC 104)
A bright southern globular cluster next to the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Photo byNASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration(CC BY 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the 47 Tucanae
47 Tuc is the second-brightest globular cluster and sits beside the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is circumpolar from much of the Southern Hemisphere.
Gear and framing
The 47 Tucanae spans about 50′ of sky. It frames best with:
- Telephoto (85-300mm lens)
- Small refractor (250-600mm)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This is a broadband target, which means its light is mostly starlight across the whole spectrum. Shoot it with no filter or a UV/IR cut filter. A broadband light pollution filter can help a little in the suburbs. Dual-band and narrowband filters block most of its light, so leave them off. Plan it for a moonless night at a dark site.
Tips
- At 135mm it frames with the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Processing
Stack your light frames with darks and flats, then remove the background gradient before stretching. AstroBake does all of this for you. Point it at your folders of raw frames, then adjust the result with live sliders.