Antennae Galaxies: Ultra-Deep High Resolution View

[SkyViking]

Hi All,

Following my ultra-deep Antennae galaxies image from last year I was recently contacted by italian astrophotographer Federico Pelliccia (http://www.astrobin.com/users/SkyHunter/) with a proposal to create a combined image with data he was stitching together from the 8.2m Subaru telescope.

The result is the following image which is a collaboration between us and shows an ultra-deep and detailed view of the famous Antennae colliding galaxies in Corvus.
The image was constructed from a number of sources: First a mosaic of panels from the 8.2m Subaru telescope was very patiently put together by Federico Pelliccia. This data was subsequently blended with my Antennae Galaxies Extreme Deep Field - 75 Hours to bring out the faint tidal streams and large scale structures which was not present in the high resolution Subaru data and this deep image also provided the colour information. The core was further enhanced by overlaying an extremely detailed frame from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Together this data represents the deepest and highest resolution view available to date, covering the entire Antennae galaxies. :P

Link to full resolution image (7260 x 6020 pixels, 9MB) (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field#!/i-4pj8K9X/O)
Link to large image ('X3' size) (http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field#!/i-4pj8K9X/X3)

Image Details:
Data: Subaru, NAOJ & NASA/ESA/Hubble & Rolf Wahl Olsen
Processing: Federico Pelliccia & Rolf Wahl Olsen
RA 12h 01m 53.30s, Dec -18° 52' 31.37"
Pixel scale: 0.2"/pixel
Field radius: 0.26 degrees

Optical systems:
Subaru Telescope
8.2m f/1.8 Ritchey–Chrétien
Exposure: 20 x 5 minutes

Hubble Space Telescope
2.4m f/24 Ritchey–Chrétien
The Hubble image uses visible and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), along with some of the previously-released observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

Rolf Wahl Olsen
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

I recommend taking the time to explore the full resolution image above, the attached preview here doesn't show any of the amazing detail that is present in the full image :)

Regards,
Rolf

[rustigsmed]

WOW - Rolf, congratulations on yet another PRO-AM collaboration.
What an image - full res is off the charts - i'm going to need a larger screen!!

Cheers,

Rusty

[clive milne]

Could do with a bit more data Rolf....

[strongmanmike]

Now, that's what'm talkin'bout girlfriend :thumbsup:

That would have to be the..?..second best deep galaxy collaboration image I have seen :D :P

Great result Rolf an awesome image, the blending has worked out really well.

Mike

[DJT]

Stunning image, Rolf, absolutely stunnig

Well done:thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

What a remarkable image Rolf. Outstanding.

Imagine if you lived in that knot of stars at the end of the right spiral! It'd be a pretty dark sky at night.

Greg.

[John K]

Incredible image and well deserved result from all that work - you need to submit this for some sort of award and great to see collaboration between amateurs and professionals!

[Stevec35]

Incredible stuff Rolf! Your images continue to amaze me.

Cheers

Steve

[RickS]

That's a wonderful combination, Rolf. Very well done.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Ross G]

Amazing photo Rolf.

Ross.

[multiweb]

Great composite Rolf. The blending worked out pretty cool. :thumbsup:

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Rusty, I love the hi res too, the Subaru data really took this to the next level :)


Apologies Clive, rest assured that I'm currently trying to make up for the measly 75 hours with my next project ;)


Thank you Mike, yes second best of course :P :lol:
Surprisingly it was actually not too difficult to blend these datasets but that's probably also because each covers the entire area so the work was more straight forward than when we tried blending our CenA images to get smooth transitions.


Many thanks David! :)


Thanks Greg, yes I've often imagined what the view might be like from other vantage points in this or that odd galaxy, such as here. Another thought might be how conductive to life such merging galaxy environments really are, since they must have much higher GRB rates and intense radiation where the starburst behavior is triggered. Perhaps not too hospitable, but I don't know what the research says in that area.


Thanks a lot John! No professional collaboration as such other than using the available Subaru data.


Thank you Steve, it's always fun to keep improving on earlier work and (hopefully) advance our image processing skills in the process.


Thanks very much Rick, yes I think the deep data from my 75 hour image was indeed well suited to compliment the Subaru data.


Thank you Ross, I'm glad you liked it :)


Thanks a lot Marc :)
Federico and I are very happy with the result! :)

[clive milne]

I think what I like most about this image is that you have used three independent and profoundly different data sets, each one being enhanced by virtue of the other two. Implicitly, any one (or two combined) being inferior to the whole. By this criteria and in light of the credibility of the two professional institutions involved, I actually rate this image higher than your 5128.

[alpal]

Hi Rolf,
That's the way to go -
combine the best data with your own to end up with a masterpiece.
There must be 1000s of galaxys in that image.
I couldn't view it properly in my browser even though I have an i7 quad core so
I had to load it into Photoshop to view it.

Well done

cheers
Allan

[clive milne]

Congratulations on a well deserved apod Rolf.

[gaa_ian]

That is a truly astounding image Rolf, I am in awe of the work you have all done together to come up with that image.

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Clive, I appreciate your comment.


Thank you Allan, yes the background galaxies likely number in the thousands. Here is a sample of ~300 background galaxies from my 75 hour image alone: http://www.rolfolsenastrophotography.com/Astrophotography/Antennae-Extreme-Deep-Field/i-RFQ8XVD/X3


Cheers Clive, I was happy to get the news of it this morning! :thumbsup:

[SkyViking]

Thanks for your kind words Ian. :)

[alpal]

Amazing picture of all those galaxies.

cheers
Allan

[Geoff45]

Stunning picture Rolf, not just the Antennae, but all the field detail. some nice detail in the tiny galaxies.
Geoff

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Geoff, Allan :)
The vast amount of background galaxies and clusters was something I always found fascinating with this particular field. It is a very rich patch of sky.

[alpal]

It's now an APOD:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150212.html

well done.