Cosmic Embrace in Canis Major - The Wallaroo Galaxy Probe :-P

[strongmanmike]

With some nice weather lately I decided to shoot this distant interacting galaxy pair in Canis Major.

Made famous by images taken with HST I though I'd give it a crack but with only 1120mm FL at my disposal I needed some good seeing...well...first night was below average, the second night was above average and the third and final session was crap...but luckily that was when I collected the RGB (phew thank god) :)... sooo can't complain I guess but as usual I can only wonder what it would be like to image from a place with truly good seeing (all the time :prey:) :)

I kept the processng on the light side to hopefully better show the combined faint outer halo and extended spiral arm - come tidal tail (?) of NGC 2207, that both also show up nicely in high contrast negative..and as usual no darks, no flats and also no noise reduction or gradient removal was used...nor any >lasso tool>brighten to make something arbitrary appear from nowhere :rolleyes: :lol: ;)

NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are quite a distance away at 150 Million Lyrs so together they only cover approx 5' of sky, so extracting details is a challenge.

NGC 2207 is the closer of the two and you can make out her large extended arm passing in front of the slightly more distant IC 2163

AS usual here are a few variations to help reveal the subject :thumbsup:

Cosmic Embrace in Canis Major (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154298225/original) (100% crop, FOV ~ 14' X 12')

The Full Frame (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154298223/original) (FOV ~ 38' X 30')

High Contrast Negative (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154298227/original)

here is a comparison with the ESO 3.6m scope at La Silla (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154298228/original)

and finally The Wallaroo Galaxy Probe (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/154330881/original) :D

More clear (hot) weather on the way too...

[gregbradley]

Great stuff Mike. A small dim pair but its come up quite well.
Good work.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, I was happy with it considering, it was certainly only seeing limited that's for sure, the guiding on night two was essentially perfect - hanging around 0.1pix average errors most of the night :party: :thumbsup:...night one wasn't so good though :doh: buuuut I still used a lot of the collected data anyway to help suppress the noise... and last night well, it was basically pea soup (I started late and hadn't cooled the scope and mirror first), so I only collected RGB, the subs had lovely little round white marshmallows all over them :)

Mike

[SkyViking]

Beautiful work Mike, it's a truly gorgeous pair and your image certainly do them justice :)
Plenty of background galaxies too, it's a nice looking field!

I've imaged this pair on a couple of occasions before, they make a nice target. I even did a ToUCam version once :lol:
I still have to try them with the QSI and big scope though, perhaps next season :thumbsup:

[alpal]

That's a top effort Mike.
What a fantastic result on a difficult target.

[Stevec35]

Nice one Mike. I've been contemplating this one myself.

Cheers

Steve

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Rolf yes I was happy with the result :)..now just need some consistent seeing (don't we all :rolleyes:)



Yeah it was a bit of a test but that's pretty much why I attached the SX gear to the modset FL AG12 in the first place, so I could have a decent crack at some of these smaller targets and with 12" at F3.8 do it reasonably quickly and without darks or flats..mate, it's easy peasy imaging with these babies :thumbsup:



First M46 and her rotten egg nebula, now this??...aaah you stalking me :scared3: :lol:

[cometcatcher]

Brilliant image Mike. Can I try one through your finderscope again? ;)

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Kev :thumbsup:...come on over and who knows ;)...I think Steve Crouch might be having a go at these babies soon too and he's in Canberra also (not far from Mackay?)..maybe he can help you :lol:

Mike

[RickS]

That's very cool, Mike! Glad somebody is getting a few photons. The weather here has been rubbish, especially for someone without an obsy :sadeyes:

[marc4darkskies]

That's a superb shot Mike! :thumbsup: Nothing about it I don't like.

BTW, I only look at your full res versions! 55% is a waste of my time.:P

Cheers, Marcus

[allan gould]

Really nice image Mike with great colour and resolution. Keep them coming.
Allan

[strongmanmike]

Cool is good in this heat :) Yes the weather in your neck of teh woods is not so good this time of year huh?



Glad to hear that...there is a slight miss registration noticeable across the top of the image, that I should fix.....but it isn't present in the centre of the image and at 55% it isn't that noticeable in the full frame so... ;):lol: :thumbsup:



It's just a fetish with you...there is medication for that :question:

Mike :thumbsup:



Thanks Allan, I'll try :)

[Nicola]

Excellent image Mike!

[dvj]

Beautiful work Mike. Ursa Major is a little north for you!

[strongmanmike]

Cheers guys and yes Ursa Major et al would be good to have a crack at John...one day...or there is remote rental, hmmm? :question:

Mike

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Wonderful image Mike!!:thumbsup:

What a tiny pair, at that focal length a real challenge.
Interesting reading about your processing, it always makes me think I'm introducing something that's not there with too much processing.

I guess doing a basic stretch, with some equalization in PS to use as a guide would be a good idea, what do you think?

Cheers,

Justin.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Justin, yes with the gear I have I am always looking for smaller targets to challenge my system with, I had 18 months of hefty CCD acreage with the ProLine on the AG12 and accumulated some nice results along the way...just going through a narrow field stage with her at the moment :P

The thing I don't like to see in an image is where a (usually) faint galaxy arm or section or outer halo or something like that has been simply lassoed and arbitrarily brightened, this is cheating in my books and is not accurate as it is the processor who is creating the shape and boundary of the feature, sometimes it is so obvious it makes me chuckle :lol:

Stretching and then using curves is ok but as soon as the processor traces around the area they are imparting their own take/shape on the feature or indeed creating something that isn't actually there (like a faint Jet :question:....no, no, just kidding, I didn't use Lasso :lol:)

Mike

[h0ughy]

:bowdown:its a great shot Mike - you seemed to have tortured every electron out of those photons to get that image!!! - nice colours and framing - heaps of background faint galaxies. one day when i grows up i might try something like this....... I am still in kindy playing wiht the sun....:P

[astronobob]

Interesting Pair Michael, great capturing again :cool2:
The two Galaxies, are they totally separate or actually colliding ? They look seperate to me, no hot spots in the collision areas either that is obvious ?
I read another web page, some guy thinks he can detect an effect of warping in the arms of 2207 at collision area, can quite see it myself, could be an older Image & new evidence has come to the fore ?
Great Subject and Image Mike :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

:lol: ah amigo (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/143874861/original), you funny :thumbsup:



Yes I believe they are separate Bob, the smaller IC 2163 is in the background but close enough that it is expected to merge with NGC 2207 in the future. The extended arm of NGC 2207 that passes in front of IC 2163 does look like a gravitational stretch to me though :shrug:...who knows :)

Mike

[Shiraz]

excellent image Mike - another fascinating group.

interested in your comment on using less-than-best data for noise suppression - I have generally got the impression that by the time I process hard enough to extract detail from data that includes lower res stuff, I end up with just as much noise as I would have by using only the best data, but with less processing - and it often looks more natural. If you don't mind giving away trade secrets (I won't tell anyone), how do you go about getting benefit from lower quality data?

regards Ray

[Bassnut]

That's a superb shot Mike! :thumbsup: Nothing about it I don't like.

BTW, I only look at your croped versions! 100% is a waste of my time.

Cheers
Fred

[strongmanmike]

Interesting dilemma huh?...I know what you are saying Rayzor and don't worry I have thought about the same thing myself, so I guess I basically weigh it up..? I still throw some stuff but probably just not as much as some others probably would, especially those who are fully automated or remote and gather data every clear hour. I can't say I've measured and quantised it as such, just good anecdotal evidence through experience processing for 1000's of hrs over more than a decade now and an eye for where the balance is :shrug:..although I don't always get it right, I am only human after all :)...I'm probably just jealous of every hour of data and like a hoarder I have issues throwing data unless it is clearly less than optimal..? :nerd:



Thanks Fred the field of view of the cropped version was bound to please you :D

[LucasB]

Well done Mike. Another top notch image and a real inspiration for letting the data speak for itself and not over doing it.:thumbsup:
Lucas

[multiweb]

Great shots of two tiny faint fuzzies. Great catch. Surprised you managed to get anything with the heat. The weather is bs lately hey? Does it cool enough at night where you are. Must be like an oven.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Lucas, the processing flow using this camera is amazingly simple, not having to worry about calibration or gradients is amazing.



Cheers Marc :thumbsup: actually the heat hasn't been a problem really, certainly doesn't affect the camera as I have been able to get to -15C easily each night and the chip is so clean I still don't need darks :D Even after 40C days, the evenings generally cool down here in Canberra so it has been quite pleasant actually..observatory, thongs, beer and galaxies ahhh sigh....bliss :)

[astronobob]

I understand bettera now, that IC 2163 is traveling straight at NGC from our perspective, I mistakenly thought IC was approaching from the side more or less therefore it was already in a situation of Mixing with it. Thanx for explaining that it is still off in the distance somewhat and having mild effects from there, makes a lot more sense in what you have captured in this pair :thumbsup:
Cheers.

[Geoff45]

Good one Mike. Nice strong colours and tack sharp stars
IMO people who do that are not really being honest with the data.
Geoff

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Bob :thumbsup:



Cheers Geoff, I used no darks, no flats, no deconvolution and no gradient removal on this image either so what you see is indeed what (the AG12 and SXH694 under average seeing and dark-ish conditions) you get :thumbsup:

Mike