I took Friday, Mon and Tues off work, giving me a possible 5 nights (without work the next day) over the new Moon weekend, to hopefully get out to the observatory and collect some photons. Well, I was blessed with 3 clear nights, so that's not bad, the seeing was very good for half of one of the nights, above average for a few hours of another but only average and sometimes below, the rest of the time, so as usual, I try to use the periods of better seeing for the Luminance if I can and the periods of worse seeing for the RGB. In the end I used every single sub taken over the three nights though...oh except one, where I bumped the counterweights walking my bulky frame around inside the confines of the dome doh! For a slowly slotherfying, aging and rather bulky individual I'm still surprisingly good at squeezing myself around and crawling under the mount/scope/counterweights inside the 2.3m dome (oh and turning it by hand)....errr?..it would be easier if I lost a few inches from around the waist though ......ooops
This lovely pair of small galaxies, is in the southern constellation of Crater (The Cup) and they are both about 45 Million light years away, with the larger NGC 3511 probably the closer of the two. NGC 3511 is an intermediate spiral and is approx 5.8' X 2' while the smaller NGC 3513 is a barred spiral approx 2.9' X 2.4' in apparent size.
NGC 3511 & 3513 in Crater (This is a close up crop, click on image once to enlarge, then click on it again for a full res view)
The remarkable thing though, at least for me, is the sheer number of faint background galaxies, of all shapes and sizes, all over the full frame image. If your screen is properly contrast/brightness adjusted and you can view in a darkened room, they are bloody everywhere, there would have to be several hundred at least, maybe over 1000 even?! just in this small field and would certainly reach down below Mag 21/22 I recon. Best to view the Full Frame Full Resolution version for this faint galaxy surfing though
Those with a keen eye will notice the bottom 1/3 or so (and elsewhere in the frame) in the Full Frame colour image, it appears a bit brighter but if we stretch the 8.6hrs of Luminance, we see that this is not a gradient but rather some very faint Galactic Cirrus dust. I know it is not a gradient because it is in all Luminance frames, in the same spots, taken from both sides of the meridian, plus it clearly looks patchy and like billowing dust clouds, as galactic cirrus tends to look, very faint though...cool
Enjoy
Mike
Last edited by strongmanmike; 14-04-2021 at 01:51 AM.
3 clear nights huh? Lucky you! I've had 2 with one a write off due to poor seeing (high 2s to 3+ arcsec FWHM). Aah the joys of a 3.1m FL. . Monday night was spectacular though! Other nights dogged by cloud. <sigh>
Awesome shot Mike
You can see so much detail in each of the galaxies.
Its fantastic to see that finer background detail of those distant galaxies too.
Lovely stuff
3 clear nights huh? Lucky you! I've had 2 with one a write off due to poor seeing (high 2s to 3+ arcsec FWHM). Aah the joys of a 3.1m FL. . Monday night was spectacular though! Other nights dogged by cloud. <sigh>
Thanks Marcus, who needs an atmosphere anyway..??!! sheesh!
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal
Great picture Mike,
is it possible to find a better picture anywhere of those targets?
You've gone very deep with nearly 16 hours.
cheers
Allan
Oh I think so Al, how's a 28" at El Sauce in Chile...like I always say, oh to have a scope, any scope, in the Atacama Chile ... Sigh, we do the best we can, with what we got, where we got it
Thanks for the comment
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshua Bunn
Couple of bright and colourful interesting pairs there Mike. We'll done!
Cheers Joshua
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlextheMartian
Awesome shot Mike
You can see so much detail in each of the galaxies.
Its fantastic to see that finer background detail of those distant galaxies too.
Lovely stuff
Oh I think so Al, how's a 28" at El Sauce in Chile...like I always say, oh to have a scope, any scope, in the Atacama Chile ... Sigh, we do the best we can, with what we got, where we got it
Thanks for the comment
Mike
Wow:
Imaged in LRGB on our Officina Stellare RiDK 700 and RiDK 500 (RGB) telescopes at El Sauce (Obstech), Chile. Frames: 116x900" Integration: 29.0 hours
Still Mike - what you have done is great considering the differences
in equipment and location.
A very interesting pairing, nicely captured. Taking your gear to the max there.
I haven't seen this one before. You are good at finding these not so common objects.
Greg.
Cheers Greg, yeah pushing is good fun, hitting Eta, The Chicken and the Statue of Liberty nebs, over and over again, tends to get a little tedious ...still love seeing good images of'em though
Quote:
Originally Posted by PKay
You could lift this one up Mike, only 140kg
Nice work by the way...
Thanks mate...yeeess...well, there was a time many years ago... all I can do now is occasionally lift someone's spirits...or a beer but yep, one of those scopes aaaand the appropriate mount...and observatory...at the appropriate location...and the approx $300K required ...would indeed be great
Nice work Mike - Given the scope & conditions, your image compares favourably to the one in Chile, well done
Yeah, happy enough with the result Andy and as usual, it was lots of fun acquiring it (...not fast asleep, like some people ). I love the way the top galaxy looks like it is cartwheeling down into the larger galaxy, very cool scene
Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek
Mike,
Great images of some very dim rascals
Top shelf stuff
Way to dim for my gear
Well done !!
Martin
Thanks Martin, glad you liked it
Quote:
Originally Posted by cometcatcher
Nice pair of galaxies. Not wrong about the background ones. They are everywhere.
Thanks Galaxy Man ...yeah I know, after dark they spring out of everywhere in the image, quite remarkable really!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Well done Mike. The numerous faint fuzzies are easily picked up with these scopes. Those are a nice pair. I'll have to put them on the list too.
That to do list of yours Paul, must be very long....
Yeah, our scopes are pretty versatile and capable huh?
That to do list of yours Paul, must be very long....
Yeah, our scopes are pretty versatile and capable huh?
Mike
Yep it is pretty long, though I am working through it. However, every time I tick one off I see another object worth imaging. It might be in a point of stasis forever more.
I have one of the AG12's tweaked out but still trying to wrangle the other one. Getting close now though. Similar image scales might be good for when Swan Reach is up and running and people wanting to buy time on one.
Great work and very realistic looking in that the background isn't artificially smooth. Every bit of data captured is visible right down to those faint background galaxies.
Great work and very realistic looking in that the background isn't artificially smooth. Every bit of data captured is visible right down to those faint background galaxies.
Thanks Scotterotti funny you should say that, fact is, I used no noise reduction what so ever..or any gradient removal either, just a decent number of subs, dark enough skies and accurate flats
For a slowly slotherfying, aging and rather bulky individual 
I'm still surprisingly good at squeezing myself around and crawling under the mount/scope/counterweights inside the 2.3m dome (oh and turning it by hand)....errr?..it would be easier if I lost a few inches from around the waist though 
......ooops 
and would certainly reach down below Mag 21/22 I recon. Best to view the 
. A very pretty pair indeed! 
. Monday night was spectacular though! Other nights dogged by cloud. <sigh>
Oh I think so Al, how's a 
...still love seeing good images of'em though 
all I can do now is occasionally lift someone's spirits...or a beer 
(...not fast asleep, like some people 
