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Old 02-10-2012, 01:04 PM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,979
The Grus Trio, plus friend

Hi all,

Paddy suggested I sketch the Grus Trio in another thread. I had actually sketched them back in April but never got around to posting it.

The Trio is actually a quartet of interacting galaxies. The fourth one lies about 30 minutes south (?) of the Trio.

I like to call this group the "Dinosaur Killers" because their average distance is calculated to be around the same time as when the dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago. To me it is amazing that the photons arriving at my eyes through the eyepiece left these galaxies at around the same time that a mass extinction was happening here on Earth. I just love these coincidences. Makes history a little more tangible and palpable.

April was the only opportunity I've had in the last 12 months to sketch from a dark site, and only over three hours after the first 7 hours of the evening were overcast, .

This quartet is just wholly attainable in my 17.5", as the four lie within the FOV of my 30mm TMB Paragon. Conditions were ok, so some detail was had at 66X. The 'forth' member, NGC 7552, exhibiting the greatest amount of detail with a significantly brighter core with its bar spanning out. 7552 is one of the few barred galaxies with an easily seen bar across its face.

This a grouping I'll like to visit again individually. At higher magnification they should reveal a whole lot more structure.

Object: Grus Quartet, NGC 7552, 7582 7590 & 7599
Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 30mm TMB Paragon, 67X, approx 1deg FOV
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Oz
Date: 23rd April, 2012
Media: White soft pastel and ink on black A4 size paper
Time: approx 1hr
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