A beautiful galaxy amongst many

[strongmanmike]

This is a pretty messy looking spiral but I recon it is kind of beautiful at the same time :love:. bit of a resemblance to M33 and NGC 300 I guess :question:

The seeing wasn't quite as good as it was for my recent Pavo galaxy cluster shot :doh: buuut still good enough to reveal plenty of tiny distant galaxies in the background :)

Sized to fit nicely on a 24" monitor without having to scroll - (check out the two tiny interacting galaxies with tails in the lower right corner) :

NGC 7793 (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/152715500/original) in Sculptor

And this was Wallaroo Observatory during the capture :)

Star Gazer (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/152715894/original)

Cheers

Mike

[Larryp]

Very nice, Mike! So many galaxies in that field :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Great colour and cool detail. Some really nice little galaxies in the surround field too.

[alpal]

Hi Mike,
Top image.
Nice to see another galaxy in Sculptor.
Your observatory was a great idea.
I hope to see a lot more.

cheers
Allan

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Galaxy King!

There's really no other description I can use.
Your usual inspiring work Mike!:thumbsup:

If you don't mind I'm posting my 7793 here just to show how amazing yours is.

Only an hour of data on my shot, it's an image from last year.

Cheers,

Justin.

[John Hothersall]

This is overshadowed by Sculptors other bigger galaxies but it is a splendid image, I could look at the background galaxies all day. People say the 694 sensor's shallow well 20k makes getting colour difficult with stars that tend to saturate but you don't seem to have this problem.

John.

[Rod771]

Very nice Mike! :thumbsup:

So many galaxies in one frame and some people think we're alone? :rolleyes:

[jjjnettie]

It's so much like NGC300, with that cluster of galaxies right next to it.
A fine image Mike. :)

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Larry, always nie to see faint fuzzies :thumbsup:



Cheers Paul, after a good mount, seeing is everything ;)



Cheers Allan, there are plenty of other galaxies in Sculptor and that whole region around the galactic pole, this new camera system will be chugging away on a few of them for the next couple of new moons I can see it :D And yes, even though it is not automated, the observatory is such an asset :thumbsup:



Thanks heaps Justin, I guess the skills are there, just need the consistent and good seeing, once the equipment is of adequate size and quality, processing is honed... then seeing is everything :)

That shot of yours is ok, it clearly shows the spiral arms :thumbsup:



Hi John thanks mate, ditto on the background galaxies :thumbsup: The small wells may well be an issue but I decided from day one with this camera by using 5 or 10min only for Lum and only 5min for RGB...seems to work :shrug: :) with the OAG now I could go longer but 10min with 12" and F3.8 and 20K wells seems quite adequate :)



Cheers Rod, alone..? Yeah, I recon not huh? :eyepop:



Cheers Jeanette

Yeah similar in some ways to NGC 300 but covers only 1/4 the sky area.

To me it looks like a mini M33 really :question:

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Hmmm ..... I'll say - pass! With flying colours ... & extra credit! :thumbsup: :). Lots of goodies to look at in that frame - verrrry cool! Very lovely image Mike!

Nice Obs shot as well!

Cheers,
Marcus

[SkyViking]

Another beautiful capture Mike :)
It's amazing how similar this galaxy look to M33 and NGC300 as you mention. The background is really the highlight of this shot I think. Those distant galaxies are pretty tightly packed across the frame, and the variation is awesome. They seem to clump in particular below and a little to the left of NGC7793, I wonder if that's perhaps an Abell cluster there?
Well done! :thumbsup::)

[Shiraz]

beautiful high res image Mike - subtle colour looks nice and background detail is fascinating.

[gregbradley]

Great image Mike. We must have been imaging the same object at the same time as I imaged this one also on Friday night. I'll post my one some other time.

Love all the background galaxies.

Greg.

[Stevec35]

Very nice indeed Mike. I never seem to get around to imaging this one myself but should because it's a lovely galaxy.

Cheers

Steve

[madbadgalaxyman]

Mike,

Oooh look at the pretty galaxy! (not a typical comment for madbadgalaxyman)

Like NGC 300, this galaxy has a bright "stellar-like appearance" nuclear star cluster at its centre. These objects structurally resemble globular clusters, but nuclear star clusters often contain stars of various ages. Also, these nuclear clusters can get several magns more luminous than the most luminous globular star cluster.
(A nuclear star cluster is not nearly as extended as even a small spheroidal bulge component within a spiral galaxy)

How much of the light from the central object in your image is the actual star cluster and how much is from the dense array of stars around it, is an open question.

For even more excitement about supermassive galactic star clusters, nuclear star clusters, young globular clusters, and other unusual clusters, see this thread:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=105102

Also, refer to this paper about nuclear star clusters:

http://star-www.herts.ac.uk/~sarzi/Publications/Boeker_02_NuclearClustersinLateS.pd f
_______________

True Anecdote from a star party:

Observer 1 (waving his arms in excitement, and literally screaming with joy) :: "There's a -1 magnitude comet blazing in the sky!!#$%%^!!!!!"
Madbadgalaxyman (as he peers at a very faint galaxy with his telescope) :: "Tell this to someone who cares! I won't let this unimportant announcement distract me, even for a second, from viewing this vanishingly faint galaxy!"

[RickS]

A lovely, colourful galaxy, Mike. The background is wonderful too.

[strongmanmike]

Hey Marcus ju Karkus! nice to hear from you, back from the states huh? Hope you had a nice time :thumbsup: Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed the view... something about faint fuzzies huh? :thumbsup:



Cheers Rolf I love this time of the year now :thumbsup:..nebulae..?..what are those :question: :P...out imaging more galaxies right now :D



Cheers Ray, the seeing was only really average for most of this shot, the resolution capabilities of this system are very sensitive to the seeing and when it is good it is really obvious :thumbsup: I had some nice seeing early this morning on the latest target, so fingers crossed I can get some more...the murky wobbly skies of Newcastle are a distant memory now......

Mike



Cheers Gregory, were you on the 17" :question: or the Tec...or the AP...or the..?...man you have some glass :prey2:..aaah stop press, I see it was the big 17", I just looked at your web site, very nice... I like the colours you got there...hmmm, might have to Sidonio my version now to up the colour saturation :question: :lol:...you need to take that beast to Bigga mate!



As mentioned Steve, the seeing was only average so with an intricate conglomeration like this galaxy it wasn't ideal but hey, I recon on a mountain in Chile you could do it some real justice :thumbsup:



Cheers Rob

Yep! Galaxies rule :D



Cheers Ricki :)

[Paul Haese]

Yeah got that covered. Guide corrections averaging around 0.01-0.09 tonight.:)

[strongmanmike]

Hey, niiiice, NJP-esque indeed :P

[h0ughy]

great work Mike - lovely shot

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Houghy...glad I'm not in New Lampton anymore :prey: :cloudy:

[naskies]

Very nice, Mike - I like! :thumbsup:

Just a question though... do you think your galaxy core looks processed / speckled? :question: Where to draw the line is something I've been wondering about since you raised the topic with my Cat's Paw image...

[strongmanmike]

Cheers for the feedback Dave :thumbsup:...in short..?..yeah probably :lol: Like you say, a fine line. The details in this small galaxy being messy and a kind of intricate complex of features (and less than good seeing) probably saw me push it a tad... :whistle:

Cheers

Mike

[naskies]

No worries :thumbsup: I obviously have no issues with pushed processing, but it's interesting to get other people's perspectives on it.

[strongmanmike]

Pushing is always a fine line and how hard you have done it isn't always obvious after you have been working on and staring at an image for several hours, days or even weeks :screwy: :lol:....

Mike
ok even months or years....:scared3:

[David Fitz-Henr]

Great image Mike, a beautiful galaxy indeed! ... and I love all the faint background galaxies in these images :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks heaps David, with some good seeing of late my F3.8 McLaren Scope can nip at the heals of your razzor sharp Bunyip :P :thumbsup:

Mike

[multiweb]

Another corker. Beautiful colors. Lots and lots of background galaxies too with intersting structures and colors. Top notch. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[iceman]

Very messy, Mike! But very beautiful still. :) Loving your work.

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, always something about seeing lots of very distant galaxies, everytime it makes me feel so insignificant....and off I slink to the observatory and huddle in a corner rocking back and forth dribbling...:question:



Cheers Mike glad to hear it :) and welcome back by the way :hi:...are you an honorary western Australian now :question:

Mike

[Ross G]

Another beautiful galaxy photo Mike.

The detail is amazing!

Ross.