Antennae Galaxies Extreme Deep Field - 75 Hours

[SkyViking]

Hi All,

I have long been working on another large project and as my target has now disappeared for the season behind trees in the West, I've been able to turn to processing and analysing the data. So here is a new Extreme Deep Field image of the famous Antennae galaxies in Corvus. :)

Link to large image (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-QZwp6NF/X3)
Link to full resolution image (5.5MB) (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-QZwp6NF/O)

Other images in this gallery:

Comparison of details with ESO (VLT) and Hubble Space Telescope images (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-fkbwwDw/A)
Comparison with deep image from UK Schmidt plates (AAO) (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-ZpsCV7z/A)
Gallery of distant background galaxies (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-RFQ8XVD/A)
Black and white version, brightened to show the faintest outer extensions (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-HSMd7jt/A)


I managed to gather 75 hours for this image, over the first six months of the year. At times it was rather frustating because clouds kept interrupting my sessions. The weather has definitely been less cooperative this year than during the same period in 2013 when I was working on Centaurus A. Despite this I managed to collect enough data for a very deep image, and thanks to the larger aperture of my new telescope the limiting magnitude is also comparable to that of last year's effort, being around magnitude 25.

Apart from the Antennae itself, what I like most about this scene is the incredible number of distant background galaxies. This area in Corvus seems very rich indeed. The full resolution image is worth having a look at just to see all these faint galaxies littering the background. There are many beautiful interacting pairs and groups which would be fantastic targets in themselves if they were only closer.
I have also put together a collage of some of these background galaxies (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-RFQ8XVD/A).

About the image:
Following on from my previous Extreme Deep Field project of Centaurus A (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Centaurus-A-Extreme-Deep-Field), I turned my attention to a spectacular pair of colliding galaxies known as The Antennae, located around 45 million light years away in the Southern constellation of Corvus.
This interacting galaxy (href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interacting_galaxy) pair was discovered in 1785 by William Herschel.

To obtain a unique deep view of the faint tidal streams and numerous distant background galaxies I gathered 75 hours on this target during 38 nights from January to June 2014.
This project was not blessed with the same long run of clear nights as I had enjoyed in 2013, so this amount of data took 6 months to accumulate, two months longer than the 120 hours I collected on Centaurus A the year before.<br>
However, the telescope used was my new larger 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian telescope, which I built in late 2013. This telecope gathers approximately 156% the amount of light over the old 10" f/5. The total integrated signal is therefore theoretically approaching that of the Centaurus A image. The faintest stars and background galaxies visible in the raw image data have magnitudes between 24 and 25, confirmed via photometric calibration of the integrated FITS luminance file against the USNO catalogues.

Tidal Streams
The iconic features of these two interacting galaxies are the two long tidal streams expelled by the collision of the galaxies. The long upper (Southern) stream seems to actually be a loop and a very faint portion of the material appears falling back towards the galaxies. Along this stream several brighter blue knots can be found, culminating in the large extended clump at its end. These knots are composed of young hot blue stars, likely triggered by the violent forces induced by the collision.
The shorter lower (Northern) stream extends into a large faint fan shape with a little curl up towards the right.

Distant Background Galaxies
Behind the lower fan of speeding intergalactic stars lies a very rich and distant galaxy cluster whose members are visible as innumerable faint fuzzy spots in the area immediately at the end of the lower stream. This densely populated area extends further towards the left below the colliding galaxies.<br>
These background galaxies are so distant that their light is visibly reddened because of the cosmological redshift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift). In fact, the entire background is littered with such distant background galaxies, and many of these can be seen through the two tidal streams and also through the extended shells and halos of the colliding galaxies. Judged by their colour and apparent size the faintest of these remote galaxy clusters lie several billion light years away.

Core Area
The main action is happening in the centre where intense starburst activity has been triggered by the merging of the two galaxies. Bright blue arcs of hot young O and B type stars light up the core area, together with the distinct magenta hue from massive glowing hydrogen nebulae. The two galaxy nuclei can still be seen separately, with nebulae, star streams and dark dust bands circling around them in a chaotic dance.

Galaxy Collisions
Based on computer simulations and observations of other colliding systems it is believed that around 1.2 billion years ago these galaxies were two independent spiral systems similar to our Milky Way. Over the following billion years or so the galaxies passed close to, and through, each other resulting in the long tidal tails being flung from the centre. During such a collision multiple shells and streams of material are expelled and our current view provides a snapshot in time of this entire spectacle. The two nuclei are now in the process of falling back towards each other again and the whole system will eventually merge to form one giant elliptical galaxy some time in the distant future.
Our Milky Way galaxy will likely share this fate in the future when it collides with the Andromeda Galaxy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_collisi on). Although the large Andromeda Galaxy is approaching our own galaxy with the colossal speed of 110 km/s the two galaxies will not begin to merge for another 4 billion years.

Image details:
Date: 38 nights during January to June 2014
Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Exposure: LRGB 54:7:7:7 hours, total 75 hours @ -25C
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand


I recommend viewing images via the links above as the small attached versions here are limited in resolution and quality.
Enjoy the view - all comments and critique welcome as always.

Regards,
Rolf

[rmuhlack]

:eyepop: Spectacular image Rolf ! A first class write-up too, you've certainly done your homework there :thumbsup:

[cometcatcher]

Spectacular imaging Rolf!

How many of these long hour projects do you have running concurrently?

[gregbradley]

A wonderful image Rolf. You top the class for long exposure and it pays off handsomely.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Excellent work Rolf...been waiting to see this one and you didn't disappoint :thumbsup:

Some deep (patient) imaging there and very interesting compilation too

Love the collection of background faint fuzzies, would make a nice wall artwork.

The thing I like here is you have gone very long in exposure but are not anal about getting low noise levels, the super depth and details are more important and make the image what it is, great stuff.

Cheers

Mike

[prokyon]

Stunning work! And what a perfect presentation with very interesting information. :thumbsup: Great collage!

[xelasnave]

Wonderful
Love the result and the story
Thank you

[Kunama]

Spectacular imaging Rolf ................ just Superb !!!!!!!

[RB]

Absolutely stunning work Rolf.
I'm going to view it again latter on my big screen, just to soak it all in.

Andrew

:)

[Mighty_oz]

Amazing image as usual, such dedication to one object sure pays off :)
Thanks for showing us all.

Marcus

[speach]

magnificence, think I'll give up now before I really start.

[RickS]

A stunning result, Rolf! Definitely worth all that hard work and dedication.

[DJT]

Awesome image, Rolf and a great write-up. Very interesting. :thumbsup:

[pvelez]

Rolf, that is a truly breathtaking piece of work. If we had a kudos button on IIS, I'd probably break it for pressing it so hard.

What's next for the RO treatment?

Pete

[Rod771]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Wonderful image and presentation.

I was on the Ipad when I came across your post, I ran straight over and turned the pc on, fantastic! Your effort and dedication really shows in your work Rolf. I really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing.

Rod

[multiweb]

+1 Top shelf Rolf. :thumbsup:

[E_ri_k]

Absolutely fantastic:thumbsup:! Nice compilation of images, and fantastic amount of detail in there.

Well done :)

Erik

[xelasnave]

Have you ever considered a deep field attempt covering area in Hubble deep field

[marc4darkskies]

Outstanding Rolf! :thumbsup::thumbsup: And what a great presentation too - gathering all those faint fuzzies together is pretty cool! :thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[rustigsmed]

awesome work Rolf!
definitely worth all the effort!

Cheers,

Rusty

[graham.hobart]

stunning stuff Rolf.
:eyepop::thumbsup::thumbsup:
The bar just keeps getting higher here in IIS.
Cheers
Graham

[Eden]

This is really something special, absolutely stunning. It goes to show what you can achieve when you trade in short term gain for long term results!

:2thumbs::2thumbs::2thumbs:

[Stevec35]

Pushing the boundaries yet again Rolf! Another outstanding image extremely well processed. Well done once more!

Steve

[Regulus]

Wonderful image Rolf.

[Paul Haese]

Well done Rolf. Nicely mega'ed up. Great detail and colour.

[Leonardo70]

Wonderful Rolf, congrats.

All the best,
Leo

[alpal]

That's a great epic work Rolf,
It's hard to know if you see stars or galaxies in the background -
there are so many fuzzy patches in there.

I look forward to your next masterpiece.

cheers
Allan

[Octane]

Absolutely awesome! :)

H

[Peter Ward]

Oh dear...that is the money-shot....sublime in every respect.

The only question I'd have is: how on earth do you get so many clear nights! :)

[mental4astro]

Nah, your standards are slipping there, Rolf...

What happened? NZ weather not helping? Poor equipment? Mental blank?



Pretty bloody awesome, mate! :D

[atalas]

Great work Rolf!

[acarleton]

Amazing !

[Shiraz]

great work Rolf. The depth is very impressive and really brings out the small galaxies in the background - well done.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Top shot there Rolf; an incredibly deep field being your reward for your mega-efforts :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I've just collected data for this object as well and am about to process it ... but it is mini-data compared with your effort here :lol:

[astronobob]

Stunning image & excellent Post Rolf - Hmmmff, I did not know this was a Southern object - keool :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Ah yes, but... you do have a Bunyip on your side :P

Mike

[SkyViking]

Thank you Richard, there's a lot to say about these interesting colliding galaxies so I probably barely scraped the surface with the write-up :)


Thanks Kevin, no concurrent mega-projects although I do try to collect as much data on the side as well e.g. when the main target is too low or has set while it is still dark then I switch to another secondary target.


Thanks very much Greg, it does pay off to collect such large amounts of data but a bit of planning is necessary :lol:


Thanks Mike, how did you know...? ;)

Yeah I'm not a fan of a totally super smooth background either. I think too much noise reduction looks less appealing than a little bit of background noise. In this image I didn't apply much noise control at all, only a bare minimum. I think it looks more 'real' this way, but that's completely subjective of course :)

The wealth of background galaxies is my favourite feature too. I think that collage will become a poster soon ;)


Thank you Werner, the collage was good fun to put together, although rather time consuming with over 200 tiles.


Thanks very much Alex!


Thank you, it was hard work but worth it :)


Thanks Andrew, the bigger the screen the better the view :)


Thank you Marcus, i'm glad you enjoyed it!


Cheers Simon, don't give up! :D:thumbsup:


Thank you Rick, yes I think it's worth it. This one was giving me more grief than CenA though because of the poor weather.


Cheers David, they are interesting and photogenic galaxies for sure :thumbsup:


Thanks very much Pete. No mega-project is in the pipeline at the moment. I'll withdraw for a while and consider the options I think :lol:
I do have some other data collected on the side that I need to process, so that will keep me busy.


Thank you Tod, I'm glad you liked the image :)


Thank you Marc! :)


Thanks Erik, I was happy with the details, and resolution too. I think it's fairly decent for a 12.5".


Cheers Alex, yes I have actually, just haven't got around to trying it yet. :)


Thanks very much Marcus, the galaxy collage is my favourite :)


Thanks Rusty! :)


Thank you Graham, I think we all learn from each other here. I certainly do. :thumbsup:


Thanks very much, yes patience does pay off when it comes to astrophotography :)


Thank you Steve, I like to push the boundaries a little :) Only downside it that it took 6 months to take this image :lol:


Thank you Trevor :)


Thanks Paul, I'm glad you liked the colours as I do try to pay special attention to that aspect.


Thanks very much Leo :)


Thank you Allan! When comparing with Hubble and VLT images etc. then it does seem that the vast majority of the very faintest specks are indeed background galaxies - which is almost scary! It's a big Universe. :thumbsup:


Thank you H! :)


Thanks very much Peter, glad you liked it :thumbsup:
It's easy: Just move to the Land of the Long White Cloud :lol: Actually I feel I've been deprived of good weather this year because it took 6 months to get 75 hours when in comparison it 'only' took 4 months to collect 120 hours last year.


Yeath I'm sorry I disappointed you Alex, I'll try to do better next time! :lol:


Thanks Louie!


Cheers Aidan :thumbsup:


Thanks Ray, the background galaxies are fascinating. I haven't attempted to count them yet!


Thank you David, I'll be looking forward to see your take on this pair!


Thanks Bob, yes this is just south of the celestial equator, but can certainly also be reached from northern latitudes. I have a very old webcam image of this pair which was taken from Denmark (56 deg N).

[marco]

:clap: WOW, deep, smooth and detailed image Rolf, a fantastic result on this amazing galaxy pair, you are always pushing the boundaries with these very long exposures!

Clear skies
Marco

[SkyViking]

Thank you very much Marco, I'm glad you liked it! :thumbsup:
I really enjoy doing these ultra deep images and the result was worth the effort I think, so now I need to consider options for the next one :)

[Placidus]

Hi, Rolf,

I was moved to search out this thread after your more recent collaborative version. This "original" shot of yours is just utterly utterly stunning.

Very best,
Mike

[SkyViking]

Thanks a lot Mike, that's very kind of you. I do like the original wider field too, but am certainly happy to also have been able to put a new perspective on this with the Subaru data. It was interesting that my 75 hour image was significantly deeper than the professional data, but then again that is to be expected given the typical high resolution and limited exposure time per object used by the large observatories.