Smoke Ring Galaxies in Virgo

[strongmanmike]

This is a work in progress

Average seeing, some cloud to dodge and what do you know...periods of strong breezes again greeeaat :rolleyes: for the two nights it took to get this miserly 90min of 1/2 decent data :rolleyes:...but I won't harp on again :mad2: :lol:

Would hope to get a little more data and some colour frames next new moon I guess...but so far so ok I guess..?

EDIT: Now in Colour

100% resolution crop of the main members (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149392085/original)

Full Frame to surf (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/149392089/original) there are some cool shaped distant galaxies in there - check out the lower left edge of the full frame.

Mike

[RickS]

Could be worse, Mike. We had a couple of clear nights and then it's wall-to-wall cloud again after months of the same. So, I'm glad you're not going to harp on :lol:

Back to the business at hand... really love that field of galaxies! I'll wait with bated breath for the colour version :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Rick.

[blink138]

phwoar what a field!!
pat

[RobF]

Oh my. This is going to be amazing to count the faint fuzzies in the final rendition. It is already!

SDF = Sidonio Deep Field.....:astron:

[Larryp]

Heaps of galaxies! Nice work, Mike

[David Fitz-Henr]

That'll be a corker of an image Mike; heaps of galaxies and lots of variety to boot!

[Logieberra]

Geeze you get some sharp focus with that fast system!

[Stevec35]

Looking good already Mike. Hope you get a chance to finish it.

Cheers

Steve

[h0ughy]

holey snappen Rsoles - i lost count of the galaxies. Very awesome Mike

[rogerg]

Wonderful image Mike :thumbsup:

[dvj]

Wonderful grayscale and nice resolution overall.

[alpal]

Nice work Mike - you really have a winning setup.
It's always a pleasure to view your results.

cheers
Allan

[cybereye]

Mike,

As a kid growing up in the 60's, I'd watch Lost in Space and wonder what it would be like to travel the Cosmos, seeing new and wonderful worlds. Well guess what, this image has let me do just that - see new and wonderful worlds almost as if I was there!!

What an awesome image! :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Mario

[multiweb]

Drool... love that field. It's like trash and treasure. So much to dig around. :thumbsup: Seeing whole galaxies like this in relation to each other just adds to the scale of things.

[gregbradley]

You come up with some great interesting objects Mike. That's a great shot. Love the main spiral. It looks a bit like the Qantas kangaroo symbol.

Greg.

[SkyViking]

Lovely field there Mike, I'm glad to see you're getting some clear skies :)
The colour version will be amazing, there is nothing like a good crowded galaxy field. :thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

There's lots happening for just 90min of data. :)

[allan gould]

Really love that image as its so detailed. Thats the splendor of your scope and camera Mike so keep them coming (and its not at all Vegas :thumbsup:)
Allan

[rogerg]

Mike,

I’ve been thinking about your Orion AG. It produces such nice results in part due to the matching of your focal length to chip size. I have been considering what OTA to replace my 12” SCT with. Current top contender is the 16” GSO RC when it comes out if it’s up to scratch. But your Orion has me thinking.

What’s the disadvantage to a fast focal ratio like your AG? Or is there a disadvantage to the position of the camera? Or is the only disadvantage cost and the telescope is otherwise perfect?

My thought goes like this: Not being on top of a Chilean mountain my FWHM is never going to get better than my usual 4”-6”. Pixel scale less than 1” is wasted on me, usually less than 1.5” is wasted on me. Hence, focal lengths > ~2000mm are wasted on me, but aperture I want. One can overcome this by binning 2x2 permanently or by decreasing the focal length. The Orion AG being the latter option.

Any comments based on your experience?

[strongmanmike]

I know, I am sure the weather conditions are worse elsewhere but sheesh it is frustrating to get the odd good night, so I can see this scope shine, and then have to endure so many others that hamper its power, mostly due to wind :doh:. It is much better than Newcastle though where a shot such as this galaxy cluster wouldn't have been possible as the seeing was that bad EVERY night :scared:...I started to doubt the optics there for a time :scared2:...although wind was never an issue :rolleyes:

Mike



Cheers Pat, like a Schmidt plate :D



Cheers Pat, yes 90 min in average conditions isn't quite enough, even with this scope ;) so I will see what happens in a couple of weeks :thumbsup:...as long as I don't lose interest :help:



Cheers Lazza



Thanks Dave, would have been nice to be able to have grabbed even just 30min each RGB as I think there is enough Lum here to compose a half decent image :shrug:

Mike



Yes I spend (waste?) a bit of time ensuring I nail the focus, always have actually, even back when I was using the 6" Starfire



So do I...think I will :)



Yeh, something about seeing tons of galaxies of various shapes and sizes, always takes me back (with Mario :love:) to my young man days up at Stromlo when I found some deep Schmidt plates and ogled over the multitude of tiny galaxies in the frame :eyepop:



Cheers Roger



Thanks John, the colour palette would be more to you liking..yes? :P



THnaks Alan, yes the setup is very powerful, needs a little tweaking at some stage but meah, I will wait till it is under cover in the dome :thumbsup:



I totally get your sentiment Mario, the image made me feel exactly the same... we need to image together, I can feel it :love2:

Guardi le Stelle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTBml4oOZ8) :bowdown:

Mike :thumbsup:



I agree Marc, cheers



Cheers Greg, it was galaxy clusters like this (and there are plenty out there!) that I really wanted this platform for from day one. However it is only now at my new site that I have been able to do them justice, Newcastle was crap. See attached is NGC Qantas :P



Thanks, it is a not often imaged group either :)



Plenty ;)



Cheers Allan...don't worry the final colour version will likely be a little Vegas :P

[strongmanmike]

All depends on what you have in mind, I wanted speed, aperture, semsitivity, versatility and portability (greedy huh :question:). In my mind 1200mm FL provides the best compromise with a large chip and 9micron pixels to cover all bases quite well and the speeeeeed is a god send :thumbsup:

I've sent you an email :)

Mike

[Leonardo70]

Hi Mike ... Virgo time. A lot of galaxies to shot.
Very nice, wait for the color.

All the best,
Leo

[astronobob]

Awesome Imaging, awesome field , hang on, ran out of words, , , oh, awesome details, and awesome equipment, so , overall, yep awesome stuff, top show and best for the colour Mike ! !

[peter_4059]

That's a really interesting field - haven't seen anything like it before. Thanks for sharing Mike

[ourkind]

Beautiful Mike! Very cool target :thumbsup:

Is it possible to image Einstein Rings i.e. gravitational lensing with your setup or is that Professional Observatory/Hubble land :question:

Just curious because that would be a cool fenoma to image :)

[cybereye]

...and after we've finished a rousing chorus of "Nessun Dorma" whilst imaging, we'll get stuck into a slab of VB, listen to 2GB's continuous call team call the footy and then catch a bit of Blokesworld on Foxtel.... :D

[Ross G]

Great photo Mike.

So many galaxies......amazing!


Ross.

[avandonk]

I downloaded your image Mike and subjected it to extreme torture so I could see the faint stuff. It was very revealing in the negative form. The signal to noise is very good for such a short data aquisition.

How big will your observatory be? I may just park my system there to take advantage of your dark skies.;)



Bert

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Leo, there is so much in Virgo besides that in the more popular area :thumbsup:



Well that's just awesome to hear Bob



Yes it is a cool bit of Virgo not in the more popular area of Makarians Chain :thumbsup:



Gravitational lenses are very faint and fine details, very hard to pick up in amateur sized scopes. They can be detected but without a comparison with a Hubble image you would never know.



Too right :thumbsup: :cheers:



Cheers Rossco



Cool, glad to hear, only fair, after sharing all your precious Italian photons :P

Suuuure!!! :stargaze: I have a Sirius 2.3m Observatory kit in the shed

Mike

[ChrisM]

Nice work Mike. Looking forward to seeing this project progress.
Chris

[RobF]

Love it. Really gets you thinking about things looking at a field like that.
Glad to see your new home site is paying big dividends too Mike.