Ancient Supernova SN185 (probably an amateur first)

[marco]

Dear all, it is a while I am absent from this forum, unfortunately lately have less and less time to spend for this hobby and in particular processing new images :shrug:

I collected during last months lots of light on a very particular object, the probable aftermath of the explosion of a supernova in 185 AD, event recorded by Chinese astronomers as the appearance of a new star in the Nanmen asterism (a part of the sky identified with Alpha and Beta Centauri on modern star charts). This is thought to be the earliest recorded supernova.

Usually referred to as RCW 86, this SNR has a relatively large angular size of roughly 45 arc minutes but it is extremely faint, so much that there are apparently no amateur images and very rare professional images recording the whole remnant. In particular I was able to mostly find infrared and radio images taken from space showing the SNR shell and only one professional ground image recording the faint filaments in Ha using a 2 meter class telescope.

Processing this one was a real challenge since even once the long Ha stack (17 hours) was heavily stretched the relatively crowded field made almost impossible to discern the filaments. To overcome this I had to subtract the continuum (the red filtered image opportunely stretched to match the star sizes) and add the result to the conventional RGB base. Same was required for the OIII (8 hours). Some tweaks on the stack (adding again low stretch Ha & OIII) and here is the result:

Ancient Supernova SN185 (http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/Nebulae/i-fDDtLmp/A)

It was a difficult task but I am quite happy with the overall look, not to mention to have something probably unique (to my knowledge).

I hope you will like it. Other details on the object and imaging data on my website.

Clear skies
Marco

[LewisM]

OMG! Super stuff!

[Shiraz]

wow Marco, out at the edge with this one. Technically difficult, but you still managed to get a beautiful image.

[astroron]

I have to laugh, Marco is in Shanghai 644 kms away according to his post. :lol::lol::lol::lol:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Marvelous Marco, wonderful work. :)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[mithrandir]

Ron, I think you'll find Marco has his location set where his gear is located - somewhere close to Siding Spring Mountain and the AAO.

Siding Spring Mountain (31.2652S 149.0512E) is 328km from here and 633km from you.

[RickS]

Well done, Marco! A great result on a challenging object.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Very interesting project Marco!:thumbsup:

Certainly a real processing challenge, with a great result.

Cheers,

Justin.

[John Hothersall]

A challenge and a success, didn't think this was even an object.

John.

[gregbradley]

Great work as usual Marco. You are good at finding this esoteric stuff.

Great work to show it and get an amateur first.

Greg.

[Manav]

Ladies and Gents! This is why I love astronomy!

Great shot

[Larryp]

Superb, Marco!

[strongmanmike]

Now THIS is something worth throwing mega data at :thumbsup:

I can well imagine what you were seeing on your screen in the early stages of processing all that data Marco, you were probably thinking at times, heck how am I going to make something of this? :scared: I imagine it was outside your normal processing approach but that you kept at it, trying different things and in the end you have come up with a very special image, congratulations :cheers: Looking at this image reminds me why I pushed to have Mark Bolton get you down for AAIC his year, hopefully you will get an invite in two years and I am sure we will all flock to hear how you do your magic..... and I will give you a big hug :)

Mike
Ps. The stars are perfect ;)

[cybereye]

Bravo Marco, Bravo!!!

Mario

[Rex]

Absolutely stunning image Marco! Congratulations!

[Stevec35]

That's excellent Marco. Beautiful image of something I've never seen before. Amazing that you can even see the sky in Shanghai.

Cheers

Steve

[astroron]

Andrew, I gathered that would be the go ;) but it just looks funny Shanghai 644 kms :rofl::rofl::rofl:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[naskies]

Amazing, beautiful, and inspiring at the same time! :thumbsup: That star field is gorgeous.

[dvj]

Beautiful image Marco! Great processing. It would be a great project to go after very faint SNR's. Yep, I think a 20" f/3 would be good for this sort of thing.

[multiweb]

That's dedication Marco. You've certainly brought up some cool colours and details. :thumbsup:

[dutch2]

Just amazing image, Marco.
Hats off to you for all the hard work that goes into a stunning image like this.
Well done.:thumbsup:

[Kunama]

Molto splendido ........ Bellissimo !

[strongmanmike]

I agree, at a dark sky location = the ultimate imaging scope (that is still manageable and kinda affordable :question:) :thumbsup:

[TimberLand]

Definitely an inspiration.

I built the 16" with the idea of pushing it that hard, but I'm along way off getting that sort of an image.

Top job

Justin.

[alpal]

Mike - you're getting aperture fever. :)

[strongmanmike]

Ha ha naah just hate doing long subs and mega data :lol:

Sorry Marco, off topic :whistle:...did I mention it was a pretty good image? :D

Mike

[dvj]

I should not be amazed at the quality of work that comes from a good refractor. Still, a big fast instrument on this faint stuff would be welcomed. OS did make a 20" f/3 recently for a commercial client. I suspect it would be good for imaging. LOL.

Anyway, great work Marco. I always look forward to your image posts

j

[lazjen]

Just to add to the chorus: very nice!

[alpal]

It is a good image & I agree that it's more a target for
larger aperture & short focal ratio.

[OICURMT]

Image of the week?

[broca]

Nice work Marco, thanks for sharing something off from the beaten path. Well done!

[gaa_ian]

Love your work ! There is one SN I wont be seeing visually any time soon !

[marco]

Thanks Lewis :)



Thanks Ray, I was quite doubtful during the processing until I tried the trick of subtracting the red, that heped a lot :)




:lol: Yep indeed, from Shanghai there is not much more I can see apart the full moon :(



Thanks Ron :)



Thanks Rick!



:thumbsup:Thanks Justin



Thanks John, actually it was a target suggestion by Sakib Rasool, this one perhaps one of the most challenging I have tried so far :question:



Thanks Greg, my quest to squeeze all photons out my little refractor keep going :P



Thanks Yugant! :cool:



Thanks Larry :)

[marco]

Thanks Mike! You are too kind, not any magic here, just being stubborn :D
For your curiosity, attached the Ha image stretched (and already with some minimum filter to tame the stars) and the "continuum" subtracted image (Ha-Red): you can see how dramatic is the result. The challenge is than to put back the data keeping the overall look natural :D

I would love to join you guys at AAIC next time, don't think I have anything to teach anybody but it would be great meet some of you in person :)

Clear skies
Marco

[marco]

Grazie Mario :cheers:



Thanks Rex :)



Hehe, I wish it was from Shanghai, actually it was taken much closer to you (few km away AAO :P), Thanks for the appreciation !



Thanks Dave! It is a pretty crowded star field, isn't it ?! :thumbsup:



Thanks John, I have stolen a bit of Ha light from you down there, luckily there is "plenty" coming :lol:
I agree, a 20" f/3-f/4 it would be amazing under those dark skies.. but need to win the lottery first :shrug:



Thanks Marc :thumbsup: Actually that is dedication AND automation, without a fixed observatory these images would be muuuuch more challenging to get..



Thanks Ingrid, no matter how difficult it is, a nice result is rewarding to any effort put in getting it :)



Grazie Matt!!



Thanks Justin, I wish you will put your 16" at the limit too, can't image what kind of results you will get!



Thanks to you too Chris :)



Thanks for the good wish Oicurmt..



Thanks Steve, that's the idea, trying something different, sometime luckily these exotic objects turn out to be pretty too :)



Haha, yes, unless ones can put his hands (and eyes) on a mega-multi-meter aperture dobson I have some doubts as well ;) Thanks for the appreciation Ian!

Thanks again everybody for the appreciation!

Ciao
Marco

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Marco.

Stunning capture of a new object for me.

Congratulations!

Ross.

[ChrisM]

A well-deserved result Marco.

Having visited both Shanghai and Coonabarabran / Siding Spring recently, I can vouch that there is a stark difference between their night skies!

Chris

[Octane]

This is simply outstanding.

I always look forward to your amazing work, Marco.

I agree, it would be fantastic to have you down here for AAIC at some stage. Your work is unique. :)

H

[Paul Haese]

Really nice vista Marco. Tiny little stars and yes mega data is good. All imaging should have mega data. Don't listen to Mike, he just wants to put images up every week.:P

I always look forward to seeing your images. I particularly like your blending of Ha data.:thumbsup:

[marco]

Thanks all for the appreciation. Again, I don't believe I have anything to teach anybody, just a constant learning curve myself by trials and errors :)
However one day or another I would like to attend the conference, not exactly behind the corner for me but who knows...

Just added in a dedicated post a stack with IR (from space), quite an interesting vista of these area..

Clear skies
Marco