Dancing Galaxies

[strongmanmike]

As some of you will have read in my ranting about my wind problem (:ashamed:) in the general chat section :lol: :P..I did finally get some good sky conditions, with little to no wind and reasonable seeing although the transparency was average to poor and I battled high cloud on night 1, so this is compiled using the best 5hrs or so of 8hrs of Luminance collected over the two nights, one with rather a lot of wind and some high cloud the other quite clear, steady and still (although a bit washed out) :)

This relatively rare set of circumstances called for a shot at something with fine details in it and some faint bits. So what better than the best, or at least most famous, example of interacting galaxies in the sky - The Antennae Galaxies in Corvus :thumbsup:

Here is a 100% resolution crop of the main event:

Dancing Galaxies (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149188440/original)

Here is a Wider View at 80% resolution

The Antennae (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149188065/original)

A super high res close up:

Love Heart in Space (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149200832/original)

Here is a Hubble comparison to help identify the structures of the two merging galaxy cores picked up in my data

Hubble Comparison (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149188571/original)

And the full frame image in negative to show the faint details

Antennae in negative (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149188961/original)

Please note, no manual local enhancements (lasso etc) were applied to the antennae streams, this is how they came out of the camera after applying ddp and global stretching.

In the end after thinking I would be thwarted by the elements..I am quite happy with the result :)

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Yowza!! You're pushing it hard by the looks Mike but that's very cool !! Great detail and I love the antenae!

Cheers, Marcus

[Larryp]

That's superb, Mike. You've captured so much detail:thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Think you've done well with this one Mike. Nice shot.

Cheers

Steve

[RickS]

A great image, Mike, although I reckon this target would benefit from a longer focal length or smaller pixels. Maybe that new camera of yours will do the trick?

Cheers,
Rick.

[Sarge]

I agree - absolutely superb! Fantastic pic Mike.
:thumbsup:
Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[cybereye]

Fantastic - bugger all noise and nice and vivid! :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Mario

PS I've been practicing my opera - "Figaro, Figaro, Feeeegaroooooo!!!":einstein:

[Saturn%5]

:eyepop: Super work Mike.

[jsmoraes]

Wow ! Great ! Very nice !:thumbsup:

[SkyViking]

Great shot Mike, I'm a big Antennae fan myself. It was the first target I aimed for when my QSI arrived, lol :lol:
That's a lot of details for a relatively short amount of time. I trust we can expect an ultra deep field version once your dome is up. :P

[Lee]

Nicely done.... it's amazing how much extra detail can be grabbed with a 2.4m mirror, and $10b.... :) (and no wind!)

[gregbradley]

Nice image Mike. You're becoming a bit of an inyourface type processor eh? That's totally fine and its high impact.

Again you capture a lot of detail.

Perhaps your ICX694 chipped camera would have done even better than the Proline here.

Greg.

[SpaceNoob]

wow! crazy detail, very cool :-)

[rogerg]

Very interesting ... nice :)

I must get back to taking some pretty-picture galaxy photo's :)

[David Fitz-Henr]

Great detail Mike and the comparison with Hubble shows the detail to be accurate as well! ... as for the wind, haven't you got permission to erect your dome yet ?? D'ya want some of the lads to come 'round and sort the landlord out?

[Lee]

I can't believe the images you get without a permanent setup Mike.... How you get set up, plugged in, aligned and imaging in a night is beyond me...

[strongmanmike]

Yes, trying to make an impact, same'ol samo is so boring :D



Cheers Lozza, if the conditions hold (:doh:), this scope can deliver both high res and wide field = imaging nirvana :cheers:.




Thanks Steve, I endured a bit to put this together though :scared:



Of course, bigger and longer focal length would be great on this target for sure...buuuut we use what we have huh :sadeyes: :thumbsup: Having said that and after perusing many Antennae images on the web, there are few amateur versions that do much better ;)



Cheers Rodster :thumbsup:...you like galaxies huh? ;)



Great Mario, I sing all day in my delivery vehicles, perhaps we could go for a drive one day, at least we can keep our inevitable dulcet tones private then :P



Cheers Graeme :thumbsup:



Thanks Jorge :)



Thanks Rolfy baby, you bet, this scope hasn't really got out of about second gear yet ;)...it kills my former 6" Starfire for photon munching power :thumbsup:



Yes, I was going to go all the way up to a..?...16" :question: myself :P



Cheers Greg

In your face..? maybe I dunno? All depends on what your eye perceives I guess? We saw and heard all the variations with Berts Eta data huh? In the end it comes down to decorating choices, actually I found some images of the Antennae taken by some big names with big scopes and thought they looked a little lack luster and boring :shrug:...so perhaps my eye is just craving some sparkle these days...like my sex life :rolleyes: :lol: :scared3:



Cheers Chris :thumbsup:



Yes you should, get some of that sparkle back :evil2: they look better than B&W smudges :D



Cheers Fitzy

Yes comparing to Hubble really consolidates what you actually have (or have not) showing in your own image

He he :thumbsup: nah, just waiting on the dosh to do it all....I have become a winger huh? :question: :help:




He he, well these days with the scope in my own back yard I do have the NJP mount setup and aligned under some bags so although the rest of the gizmo setup is still a little involved (and a deterant at times) it is much better than what I have endured in the past :scared: :)...did I mention my wind issues...? :whistle: :windy:

Mike

[asimov]

Lovely work, Mike!:eyepop::thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cheers John, glad you liked it :)

Mike

[Star Catcher]

Nice work Mike, always tough to get the extent of the arms.
Ted

[peter_4059]

Impressive work Mike. The Hubble comparison is great.

[RobF]

Stunning image Mike. The colours and contrast in the cores just seem pushed a bit far to my eye too, but Feldercarb its great work on a faint object for a couple of nights.

[DavidU]

How cool !, your new scope is a photon magnet.:thumbsup:

[alexch]

Wow! Love the detail and colours. Antennae are one of my favourite visual targets and I always get a thrill when I can see the tails.

Thanks for the views!

Alex

[multiweb]

Gorgeous colours. The widefield is a real treat. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Ted, yes I remember seeing a deep (overexposed) shot of this pair taken with the 200" Palomar, maybe it was in Burnhams Celestial Handbook (?) can't remember, anyway we have come a loooong way in imaging since then :thumbsup:



On ya Pete, Hubble comparisons are very revealing about your own data, they are a great reference tool to see what you are managing to reveal :)



Cheers Rob, yes some others have said the colours are a bit vibrant :whistle: but just seemed the road I wanted to travel, besides others have really enjoyed the colours...so go figure :shrug: :)



Thanks Dave, yes it is, leaves the little 6" Starfire for dead in that department, I can go much deeper much quicker :thumbsup:



Glad you enjoyed the colours :P...and you're welcome Sir Cherney :prey2:



Glad you liked the colours too Marc of M8 :)

Mike

[alan meehan]

:DTopshot Mike the detail in the antenae looks great ,bet you miss newcastle ,buy the way you can get tablets for wind
AL

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Al and no, not missing fuzzy light polluted Newcastle :rolleyes: :lol:

I know, but I would need so many tablets piled on top of each other to create a tall enough panel :question:

Mike

[alpal]

Good results Mike & it also shows how we should
stand in awe of what the Hubble has shown.

[strongmanmike]

Hey thanks :thumbsup: I certainly agree re the Hubble, it is an unbelievable piece of kit but juuuust to clarify, in case there is any miss conception :whistle: the reason I post comparisons with Hubble is not motivated by some deluded sense that my data is any where near as good but rather to provide reference so that one can decipher/confirm the details in my data and make it clearer what it is that is actually captured :) I would challenge anyone to make sense of what is a rather messy core entanglement without the comparison.

Mike

[alpal]

Hi Mike,
There is no misconception - I like what you've done.
The Hubble gives us the detail & the wide field also shows perspective
as well as making sense of what has been captured.
Maybe more of us should do the same?

cheers
Allan :)

[strongmanmike]

Good to hear :thumbsup: I know there are a few who think otherwise :rolleyes:

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Mike.

The detail and colours are amazing.


Ross.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Ross :)

[stevous67]

You Bast$#%! You and the rest of you, showing these great shots are just killing the rest of us who can't get any clear sky at the moment! :cloudy:

:rofl:, seriously, we'll done Mike.


Steve :thumbsup:

[dvj]

The Hubble shot was the one on the right, correct? :eyepop:

[strongmanmike]

Sorry'bout that Steve :ashamed: ...I'm inside at the moment? :shrug:

:thumbsup:



Yep that's right, I did the comparison so people could decipher what was in the blurry HST shot :D ...what a waste of NASA dollars that ex spy satellite was :rolleyes: :lol:

Mike

[naskies]

Very nice, Mike! I really enjoy your comparisons with the Hubble images. It's pretty amazing what an individual can accomplish in their back yard nowadays compared a multi-billion dollar space telescope :)

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Dave, who knows where amateur imaging will be in 20 years :eyepop: my guess is amateur true adaptive optics :thumbsup:

Mike

[Peter.M]

Lovely image Mike, I too ponder about where the technology will go in the future. Would be awesome to setup and have my own laser guiding the scope!

[Lee]

Skywatcher/GSO adaptive optics.... :)

[Gem]

Wow - great image! I have trouble getting the Antennae, but you have captured them ssooo well! :)

[strongmanmike]

Hey thanks Grant :thumbsup:

The tails are quite faint really and need some exposure and some aperture helps too :)

Mike