Murrell 1

[Stevec35]

Hi to all

I've been getting data on this planetary discovered by Andrew Murrell in 2004 for a while now and it still needs a lot more. One of my UK colleagues requested an image of it as it has apparently only rarely been imaged. Given that the weather looks like it's turning bad I thought I would publish what I had so far and maybe add a bit more when I get a chance. This is a HaOIIIOIII image.

Cheers

Steve

http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/murrell1_STLXL6303_RC14.htm

[SkyViking]

Cool target and a nice image of it Steve. It's understandable why it's rarely imaged, it seems like a rather dim obscure ghostly bubble. Interesting for sure, and well off the beaten path! Thanks for the view.

[Stevec35]

Thanks Rolf

[RickS]

Well done, Steve! Looks like a very faint, ghostly little bubble.

[gregbradley]

Very patient there Steve. One slight miss on the processing and it would've been invisible.

Nice work.

Greg.

[Stevec35]

Thanks Greg - I think I'll return to more conventional fare after this.



Thanks Rick

[John Hothersall]

That looks so faint, it barely shows even after all that exposure.

John.

[atalas]

Very faint,good catch Steve.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Nice work Steve!:thumbsup:

Geez.... you like the faint ones, tough ask from Canberra.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Lee]

Well done....

10hrs, 14", SBIG CCD - I don't think I'll try this one....

[Stevec35]

Thanks Lee. Never know your luck until you try these things.



Thanks Justin. I've had tougher.



Thanks Louie



Thanks John. It is a faint one.

[sjastro]

Hello Steve,

I hope you don't mind Steve but I have used some processing techniques to extract data which is barely brighter than the sky background.

I think it works well on your image.

Regards

Steven

[Stevec35]

No problem Steven. BTW the thing to the upper left appears to be the galaxy gJ150610.6-414842.

[Ross G]

Amazing capture Steve.

A great photo of a new object for me.

Ross.

[Stevec35]

Thanks Ross. Was going to get some RGB but I think I'll leave it as it is for now.

[marco]

Nice one Steve and thanks for always going the extra miles in taking out these virtually unknown little gems :thumbsup:

Clear skies
Marco

[strongmanmike]

Nice, ghostly faint bugger that.

Mike

[Stevec35]

Thanks Mike



Thanks Marco. It helps the motivation going after something different.

[hector]

Thanks, That is the best image I have seen of my Planetary so far. I hope you don't mind me using it as my screen saver for a while.

[Paul Haese]

That is a very faint object. What sub length are you using on it?

[Stevec35]

20 minutes. Probably would have done better with 30.



No problem at all Andrew. Glad you like the image.

[Paul Haese]

Actually I was thinking maybe 40 or 50 minutes might be more helpful. Fred does 40 minutes a lot.

[clive milne]

Each to their own.
Personally, I find something original (like Steve has done) to be more interesting than the five thousand and ninety third regurgitation of M42, horsehead, etc.

[Placidus]

Faint !! Very well done.

[Geoff45]

Very impressive Steve. Nice to see some difficult objects rather than the run of the mill stuff.
Geoff

[strongmanmike]

Errr? "each to there own"?? Wha? Ooo-k, you do know Clive, that this is a thread Steve started back in Feb last year recently resurrected and my response was made just a few days after that..? :shrug:

[Regulus]

That looks like a tough target to photograph AND to process. Wow, well done.
Be great to see how it came out after another 320 minutes of exposure.

Trevor

[clive milne]

I think I see the problem...
you said 'faint bugger that'

I read:
Faint, bugger that.

the placement of the comma completely changes the meaning, hence my response.

[Nortilus]

wow...thats a top job there...i really like all the galaxies around in the image too...

[strongmanmike]

Misinterpretation of posts is pretty easy huh?

Reminds me of that Faulty Towers scene in the dining room when Basil and Polly are trying to convince the spoon salesman how easy it is to confuse who is talking to who :lol:

Mike :thumbsup:

[Stevec35]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm not sure why this one suddenly surfaced again though after almost 12 months. If the sky ever clears up again I'm going to try and get some more data so we'll see what happens.

[hector]

That would be me, I found the post with shots of my planetary and wanted to say thanks. For those that are interested we have seen the planetary in both the 25" and Hector my 20" so it is something you can see if you take the time and effort.

[strongmanmike]

So is it actually named after you Andrew?..how cool :thumbsup:

Mike

[hector]

It most certainly is. Discovered by me in 2004 and confirmed as a Planetary 5 years later.

[ausastronomer]

Hi Steve,

Great image.

I am a lot late to this thread as I wasn't aware anyone on IIS had imaged it. I only stubbled on this thread while searching for another thread on IIS re Murrell 1.

Just some info which you may or may not wish to correct in the notations on your website re this target.

This planetary nebula was only discovered in 2004 by Andrew Murrell of the Astronomical Society of New South Wales. The diameter is 105" x 100" and the magnitude of the central star is about 18. Apparently it has been seen in a 25" scope at TSP.

I think you have confused its visual observation at the real TSP with it's visual observation in a 25" telescope at the Deepest South Texas Star Safari, which is an event hosted by 3RF Australia and held at Coonabarabran every year. Andrew, myself and a few of our US visitors have observed Murrell 1 visually over the past 8 years at different times in the 25"/F5 Obsessions and 30"/F4.5 SDM


For those interested here is some more information on Murrell 1 and its discovery and verification.

Murrell 1

Type : PN
Co-ordinates : RA: 15 06 17.13 Dec -41 45 18.4 J2000.0
Central star mag: approx 18
Image link: http://stdatu.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_...e&fov=NONE&v3=
Discoverer : Andrew Murrell, Mount Kaputar 21-Feb-2004
Verified: Brian Skiff, Lowell Observatory 22-Feb-2004
Verification image: Steve Lee, Coonabarabran 3-Mar-2004
Reported not in MASH database: David Frew, Department of Physics, Macquarie University 5-Mar-2004
Verification spectroscopy: David Frew, 2.3m telescope, Coonabarabran, circa 22-Jul-2004

Second to Andrew I have probably observed this target visually more than anyone else. I had previously only ever been able to observe it visually in telescopes of 25" aperture and larger. I had tried a couple of times in Andrew's 20"/F5 and while he was able to see it, I wasn't. I have also tried a few times in my own 18"/F4.5 without success. I have an ability to see deeper than most but I think Andrew must have a 20mm pupil dilation to see as deep as he does. Regardless of telescope size and observer skill, it requires good optics, good eyepieces, clear transparent skies, very dark skies, excellent dark adaption and high target altitude above the horizon.

At the most recent Ozsky event which finished last Friday (formerly Deepest South Texas Star Safari) I was able to observe it last Wednesday evening in James Pierces 16"/F4 SDM. The skies were very good and transparent and the target was located at zenith. Andrew, myself and James Pierce all observed it in the 16" scope. Several others on the field were able to observe it in one of the 25"/F5 Obsessions. Visually, it appears more triangular in shape than circular due to the lower brightness of a couple of the outer sections.

Irrespective of the telescope size it is a very dim difficult visual target. Notwithstanding that it may be above the horizon, I believe it is to far South to be successfully seen from locations as far North as Texas. Here is an account of our Texan friends Van Robinson and Jimi Lowrey's attempt to observe it visually in Jimi's 48"/F4 Newtonian. Jimi is located at Limpia Crossing Fort Davis Texas which is less than 10km from the Prude Ranch, which is the site of TSP

*********************************** *******************
Even though it is down near the dirt, we decided to give Murrell 1 a go through Jimi Lowrey's 48", here in the frozen hinterlands of the far North.
We had to lie in the cacti and kick the rattlesnakes out of the way to get to the eyepiece.

Using a 17mm Ethos which gave 330X, and a UHC filter, we squinted through the haze.

Nada.

--van
*********************************** ******************

Cheers
John B