IC 10 — A Starburst Galaxy Hidden Behind the Milky Way
IC 10 is the only known starburst galaxy in the Local Group, but it’s heavily obscured by foreground Milky Way dust, making it notoriously difficult to capture. Despite the extinction, IC 10 hosts one of the highest densities of Wolf–Rayet stars, along with intense Hα-bright star-forming complexes.
This long-integration LRGB + Hα data reveals its chaotic irregular structure: bright hydrogen emission marks massive stellar nurseries, while the diffuse halo shows mottled dust and turbulent star-forming regions typical of dwarf irregular systems.
Imaging details:
🔭 Telescope: Star Instruments RC10C (254 mm Ritchey–Chrétien)
📷 Camera: QSI 660 WSG8 (Sony ICX694)
🎨 Filters: Astrodon LRGB + Hα
🕒 Total exposure: 32.33 hours
🧮 Subframes:
• L: 160 × 180 s
• Hα: 64 × 900 s
• R: 34 × 300 s
• G: 37 × 300 s
• B: 29 × 300 s
📍 Location: E-EYE Remote Observatory, Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop.
by kbarth001