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Old 16-09-2018, 06:02 AM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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NGC 55 - A Cigar in Space

A popular target this time of year...here is my take on this amazing galaxy

I always thought this galaxy was kind of a bit boring to image ...unless of course the sky gods bless you with good seeing conditions, well then you can peer right into this edge on galaxy and see lots of stuff!

Taken over three nights, two of which were very steady, this is a pretty deep look at this baby, there is quite an extensive array of distant galaxies spread out right across the image and also a rather prominent outer halo envelopes the galaxy and few other images out there have revealed this, so that is pretty cool .

At about the size of the full Moon, it is actually quite a large angular size on the sky and although I thought I had framed her perfectly to fit it all in, the very faintest extensions in fact extend a little further off the right side of this 38 arc min wide field of view

The seeing was good enough that no deconvolution was used on this either ...but several beers were consumed during image acquisition..errr and during processing

Capture details under the image:

NGC 55 - A cigar in Space (click on image and use your cursor to surf around)

To have a good deep look and go distant galaxy hunting, check out and surf the full resolution image
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (NGC55 small.jpg)
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Last edited by strongmanmike; 16-09-2018 at 06:24 AM.
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  #2  
Old 16-09-2018, 06:10 AM
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codemonkey (Lee)
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Very nice, Mike. Nice, tight, well-shaped stars, great detail and colour. Nailed it.
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Old 16-09-2018, 06:24 AM
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Verrry nice, Mike, and some lovely little fuzzies in the field. I reckon a tiny touch of decon would sharpen it up nicely

Cheers,
Rick.
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Old 16-09-2018, 06:27 AM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by codemonkey View Post
Very nice, Mike. Nice, tight, well-shaped stars, great detail and colour. Nailed it.
Cheers Lee, yeah I feel everything worked well and came together for this image

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Originally Posted by RickS View Post
Verrry nice, Mike, and some lovely little fuzzies in the field. I reckon a tiny touch of decon would sharpen it up nicely

Cheers,
Rick.
thanks Ricki and I did try some decon but seriously, it looked better without it if the conditions allow, it is better not to use that bloody artificial filter I hate dots!..and worms!

Mike
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Old 16-09-2018, 06:54 AM
Placidus (Mike and Trish)
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We're absolutely thrilled to see how similar our two images are in terms of star by star colour, and in terms of fine detail in both tiniest galaxies and the big one, showing that some degree of objectivity and reproducibility is prevailing. That's a very good thing in this naughty world.

Your optics, seeing and guiding must have been superb.

So the correct quantities of beer, carefully applied, seem to settle the sky ! Wonder if Mortimer's "Jules" Cabernet-Shiraz has the same effect?

Best,
MnT
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Old 16-09-2018, 07:40 AM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Originally Posted by Placidus View Post


We're absolutely thrilled to see how similar our two images are in terms of star by star colour, and in terms of fine detail in both tiniest galaxies and the big one, showing that some degree of objectivity and reproducibility is prevailing. That's a very good thing in this naughty world.

Your optics, seeing and guiding must have been superb.

So the correct quantities of beer, carefully applied, seem to settle the sky ! Wonder if Mortimer's "Jules" Cabernet-Shiraz has the same effect?

Best,
MnT
Cheers guys

I try to display my data accurately, with as little artificial detail or processing induced structures (have you heard of deconvolution ) as possible..well, hopefully none!

The seeing on the 11 Sept was around my usual average levels (which are still not too bad) but conditions on the 13 Sept were really excellent, the subs were sharp as a tack and thus produced a big grin on my face and increased the beer consumption measurably..hic! and guiding was bloody perfect (ave guide errors of around 0.3 arc sec) the seeing dropped just a tad on 14 Sept but were still pretty good. This scope may not be the highest end scope money can buy but on my classic Tak NJP mount and in the right conditions it performs pretty ok

Mike
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Old 16-09-2018, 08:02 AM
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Ryderscope (Rodney)
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I see a developing affection for NGC55 following these excellent displays. Stunning as always Mike. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 16-09-2018, 08:19 AM
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Hi Mike,
your picture has all the detail that's in M&Ts pic.
That's amazing considering the difference in the type of scope.
Your high quality results really surprise me.
Did you get a fluke mirror from Orion?



cheers
Allan
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  #9  
Old 16-09-2018, 08:22 AM
markas (Mark)
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Superb image
Great colour and detail.


Mark
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Old 16-09-2018, 10:29 AM
topheart
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Hi Mike,
An awesome result!
I love it.
I really like the Ha enhanced red areas.

Well done!
Cheers,
Tim
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Old 16-09-2018, 10:58 AM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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Top class image Mike! Love the Ha areas too.
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Old 16-09-2018, 12:15 PM
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Well done Mike. Great detail. The Ha certainly stands out.

The more I look at this galaxy the more I like it. It was considered a little boring back in the film days.

Dave
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  #13  
Old 16-09-2018, 12:35 PM
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I'm really enjoying this NGC 55 galacto shootout by several of the top image contributers here - makes a fascinating comparison and something for us us mere mortals to aspire to.

Inspired by all this goodness, I headed out last night to a dark site to have a crack at NGC 300. Now I know where the bar has been set, I suspect it's going to take a few more trips to get adaquate data, then the LRGB processing adventure begins.

Big thanks for sharing these - Mike yours is a truly wonderful image, with itty bitty galaxies in the background everywhere you look. Well done!
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Old 16-09-2018, 02:40 PM
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Retrograde (Pete)
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Brilliant. Those HII regions are delicious.
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Old 16-09-2018, 02:48 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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It is quite interesting comparing the two "Mike" images. The resolution and clarity are very much the same with the biggest difference being in the processing.

Both benchmark images for sure!
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Old 16-09-2018, 03:29 PM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Really nice colors.
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Old 16-09-2018, 05:11 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryderscope View Post
I see a developing affection for NGC55 following these excellent displays. Stunning as always Mike. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome Rodney

Quote:
Originally Posted by alpal View Post
Hi Mike,
your picture has all the detail that's in M&Ts pic.
That's amazing considering the difference in the type of scope.
Your high quality results really surprise me.
Did you get a fluke mirror from Orion?

cheers
Allan
Not sure the similarity is all that surprising, in the end as long as your optics are diffraction limited, it is the seeing that evens out the playing field Put M&T's scope at CTIO and bingo!

Quote:
Originally Posted by markas View Post
Superb image
Great colour and detail.


Mark
Thanks a lot Mark

Quote:
Originally Posted by topheart View Post
Hi Mike,
An awesome result!
I love it.
I really like the Ha enhanced red areas.

Well done!
Cheers,
Tim
Thanks and glad to hear Timmy it was pretty exciting to see the seeing so good

Quote:
Originally Posted by cometcatcher View Post
Top class image Mike! Love the Ha areas too.
Cheers Kevin

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveNZ View Post
Well done Mike. Great detail. The Ha certainly stands out.

The more I look at this galaxy the more I like it. It was considered a little boring back in the film days.

Dave
Totally agree, I have had similar meah I won't bother with that one, feelings on a few galaxies due to preconceived ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01 View Post
I'm really enjoying this NGC 55 galacto shootout by several of the top image contributers here - makes a fascinating comparison and something for us us mere mortals to aspire to.

Inspired by all this goodness, I headed out last night to a dark site to have a crack at NGC 300. Now I know where the bar has been set, I suspect it's going to take a few more trips to get adaquate data, then the LRGB processing adventure begins.

Big thanks for sharing these - Mike yours is a truly wonderful image, with itty bitty galaxies in the background everywhere you look. Well done!
Thanks a lot Andy, glad it is all encouraging. Good luck with your NGC 300 too, I'm sure it will be worth the effort ...I used to have to travel a fair way to a dark skis several years ago too, when I lived in Newcastle and it was a pain going back and forth packing and unpacking setup and pull down... but it builds resilience and intestinal fortitude

Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrograde View Post
Brilliant. Those HII regions are delicious.
Good to hear you like my cooking Pete

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos View Post
It is quite interesting comparing the two "Mike" images. The resolution and clarity are very much the same with the biggest difference being in the processing.

Both benchmark images for sure!
Glad you think so Col, it was pure coincidence that we were hammering the same object at the same time (me baby sitting my scope and dome in 3 degC...Mike and Trish cuddling up with a nice red )....but being a nice big and brightish target, I guess there was a high probability

Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb View Post
Really nice colors.
Cool, thanks Marc

Mike
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  #18  
Old 16-09-2018, 05:55 PM
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alpal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike View Post

Not sure the similarity is all that surprising, in the end as long as your optics are diffraction limited, it is the seeing that evens out the playing field Put M&T's scope at CTIO and bingo!

Mike

You're right Mike,
Talking of Chile - I had to have a look - wow.
Still - what amateurs can do with 1% of the money doesn't
make the results from Chile 100 times better.


http://www.chart32.de/images/phocaga..._halrgb_70.jpg


2-panel mosaic
Ha-LRGB (Ha 11x40m, L 36x20m, R 14x20m, G 14x20m, B 14x20m) total 63 h.
Seeing 0.7-1.1 arcsec 80cm f/7 Astrooptik Keller corrected cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803, Baader Filters, Prompt 7 CTIO Chile, processing: Johannes Schedle
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Old 16-09-2018, 06:16 PM
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SimmoW (SIMON)
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Great image there Mike, yes you must've been blessed with some amazing seeing there, and with no moon to boot! Loved hunting thru your high rez version, good fun and awe inspiring
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  #20  
Old 16-09-2018, 08:38 PM
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h0ughy (David)
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You and your nice scope, camera and filters, flouting your nice results. Not one bit jealous, honest

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