Got some good conditions this new moon ...so, even though I don't have a 32" scope in the atacama... I brazenly and defiantly pointed my little fast F3.8 scope and little sensitive camera, at this tiny pair of interacting galaxies in Aquarius
Well....despite my woefully inadequate equipment at almost sea level, I was very pleased with the outcome and quite excited to reveal the full extent of the faint twin tidal tails and significant detail deep with in the two small galaxies
The upper galaxy in this image, NGC 7285, is 2' in size while NGC 7284 below it is just 1.5' across but together these two galaxies in Aquarius are performing a close gravitational dance and the encounter has produced two (faint) magnificent sweeping broad tidal tails (to the left and a fainter one to the right in the image). This cosmic gravitational stretching has resulted in stars and gas being flung out and strewn across an area of sky measuring some 10' X 3'. So, at the estimated distance of 210 Million light years to this pair of galaxies, that means the two galaxies have spread across more than 300,000 light years of space, or three times the size of our Milky Way galaxy!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do...ah sigh..our amazing Universe all capture details are under the image.
An amazing pair of interacting galaxies, Mike! The rest of the field is pretty cool too. I think you've proven, yet again, that modest equipment at an ordinary site can produce the goods
Aww, man. The full field is a joy to behold. All those swirlies!
I've been pointing my FSQ at the Grus Quartet for the hell of it, because there's a few swirlies in there, too.
Well done!
H
Cheers Humayun galaxies with the FSQ huh?...nice, look forward to seeing the results. Hopefully soon I will hav emy FSQ up and running...I keep finding myself in the middle of imaging something cool but small...
Quote:
Originally Posted by codemonkey
That's awesome, Mike. Great field, haven't seen it before either.
THnaks Lee, yes seldom imaged, the CHART32 guys have done a good one
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Looks good Mike!
Steve
Thnaks
Quote:
Originally Posted by markas
Great shot - both the crop and the field
Mark
Glad you liked it Mark
Quote:
Originally Posted by atalas
.....damn stupendous work hey that central region is reminiscent of NGC 1097!hehe....well,I guess they are both barred.
Man what a great field as well....very cool.
Glad you enjoyed the view big Louie, galaxies are hard to beat...I am struggling to shoot anything else these days
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
An amazing pair of interacting galaxies, Mike! The rest of the field is pretty cool too. I think you've proven, yet again, that modest equipment at an ordinary site can produce the goods
Thanks Rick, yes well...I would like a 32"at Cerre Tololo though ...in the meantime 12"at F3.8 with 4.5 micron pixels will have to do
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
That's so cool my fingers got frostbite from my phone!
Must look at that on a proper screen whilst sitting in a sauna😎
Nice one
Watch the screen doesn't melt in the sauna
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshua Bunn
Absolutely love it Mike and all your recent images... you've been picking the not so often imaged objects, which I like.
Hi Josh! glad you like it, like most interacting Arp galaxies, it is certainly intriguing
The top left galaxy looks like it's been totally destroyed, like a tomato in a blender, but one could imagine that not just individual stars, but the planets around them, and perhaps critters on many of them, have survived.
The top left galaxy looks like it's been totally destroyed, like a tomato in a blender, but one could imagine that not just individual stars, but the planets around them, and perhaps critters on many of them, have survived.
Ha ha thanks M&T lots of blending and ripping going on there and yes....lets hope so
Very nice Mike, an interesting field when looking at the full frame
Further to MnT's comments, a few years ago I did a mathematical simulation of the Milky Way and Andromeda interaction and they would have to pass through one another some 6-7 times before statistically there would be an interaction between the stars within them.
Stars might be pretty damned big compared to us but the space between them is mind boggling.
You can think of your picture as in the top 1 or 2 pics that can be found -
yours is a wide field which is very pleasing - unless someone can find more?
I wish they would have launched a dozen Hubble telescopes so we could get
to see real closeups of these wonderful distant galaxys.
Like this, background is nice and charcoal, colour is subtle, an interesting target with nice detail processing. All looks good. I really like a few of the smaller galaxies too. And, there are a myriad of smaller specks to be seen also.
Hi Mike, if this is kind of result you produce when you're making a point, I'm going to start finding things to needle you with!
This pair is a wonderful test of a visual observer too.
Good dark skies regardless of elevation are a big part of the puzzle!
Cheers
Andrew
...so, even though I don't have a 32" scope in the atacama... I brazenly and defiantly 
pointed my little fast F3.8 scope and little sensitive camera, at this tiny pair of interacting galaxies in Aquarius 
..despite my woefully inadequate equipment at almost sea level, I was very pleased with the outcome and quite excited to reveal the full extent of the faint twin tidal tails and significant detail deep with in the two small galaxies 
.....damn stupendous work 
