Three very different galaxies

[strongmanmike]

Well it had ta happen...I have started using flats! :-)

Last night was a pearler of a night in Canberra - still, clear and
average to good seeing (at times)..?..oh but there was a moon for
half the night though :-(

It was the first time I had everything operating from one computer
ie the SXV-H9 + SXV guide camera, FS2 scope control and my new
plaentarium software STAR AtlasPRO, by our very own Paul Mayo of
Newcastle, was pointing me everywhere! I have also installed a JMI
moto focus on the AP, with a long cable to the handbox, so "finally"
I could pretty much just sit there and control everything from my
flight deck (fold-out card table with table cloth). The only thing I
still have to do manually is focus of the guide scope (only had to
tweek that a couple of times in the night though). I know this is a
far cry from the likes of the fully automated out there but for me,
who has been producing images with the AP152EDF for the last year
with manual finger focus and no GOTO, it was rather cool!

The use of flats was a fluke really as I wasn't planning on using
them and the night was intended to be used to just try and get all
the hardware and software talking for future sessions when I was
deffinitely going to try flats with a light box. Buuut after
successfully imaging three galaxies (for fun)with the NJP tracking
like a exorcet missile I noticed this stange light creeping across
the sky...?? After at first thinking I was having a dizzy spell, I
realised...oh it's daylight coming!...?...hmm?...flats??? Yeh why
not?

I pointed the scope to the Zenith and out came the grease proof
paper. The actual process of taking the sky flats was a little nerve
racking I have to say as the sky brightens so quickly! Between
typing file names, and the computer freezing right when the ADU
readings were approaching my target levels causing a lightening
reboot frakas, trying to maintain 50-60% saturation was easier said
than done!

Any way I did three galaxies and while the flats were far from
perfect the resulting images are a mile better than the recent Grus
galaxy group I did!

NGC 247

This galaxy in Sculptor is often over looked for it's much brighter
nearby cousin NGC 253. NGC 247 while fainter is almost as big and
being a star burst galaxy (I think?) it has plenty happening in it.
Unfortunately this was taken while the moon was up :-(

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797523/original (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797523/original)


NGC 1398

Another over shadowed galaxy is NGC 1398 in Fornax. Most (including
me) tend to go for the more spectacular celebrity and nearby barred
spiral NGC 1365. NGC 1398 is a beautiful and subtle galaxy with
delicate spirl arm structure. It also sports a prominant short bar
and neat molecular inner star forming ring:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797607/original (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797607/original)


NGC 1924

This is a galaxy I have always wanted to image. It is very small
(1.5' X 1.1') and only Mag 13.3 but being just a degree or so from
M42 in this very dusty and HII dominated region of the Orion I
wanted to see how much the AP and SXV-H9 would show in a short
exposure of 30min:

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797628/original (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/67797628/original)

The flats experience was not perfect as the dust motes are not
completely removed but given my crude technique I am happy with the
outcomes. Shame I didn't take any colour for the 247 and 1398 images
oh well, next time?

...?...ahh?..thanks for listening to that ramble! :-)

Mike

[Astroman]

Nice shotsMike, great detail on the lesser known galaxies.

[2020BC]

Good story. Wow, I really liked the image of NGC1398. :thumbsup: So much so that I went and Googled it up. It's a really awesome looking object. Nailing this sucker will become one of my long term goals. It is a great object. Never seen a pic of this until now. Thanks for sharing. Click this link (http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n1398.html) for an amazing image of it.

[strongmanmike]

Hi Bill!

Funnily enough that lovely shot was the image that I had in my mind when I went for this.

To prodcue a good image of this galaxy with a 6" F7.5 I really needed much more exposure. The subtle striations around the molecular ring are in fact faintly visible in my image, they are just not strong enough from lack of signal :( . A 20" scope would be a nice help too though :P ..?...one day!

Mike

[Striker]

After reading your entire post..that took me about 20 minutes it was great to see some fine faint galaxies Mike.

Thanks for sharing.

I too am looking forward to some CCD work.....huge new learning curve...I will have to get use to not finishing off an image every night...dam.

[Lester]

Nice images as always, Mike.

[h0ughy]

Mike I am sure you have corrupted Tony into getting a CCD! Very nice galaxy examples too mate! Narrative was very informative too

[Dennis]

Great write up and even greater images - just fantastic.

Cheers

Dennis

[Ric]

Fantastic shots Mike, there is a lot of clarity and detail in all of them.
I am still learning the craft of imaging a galaxy, I still toast the centres but not as bad as when I first started.
Your images give me that determination to keep on working away at them.

great work

[EzyStyles]

very nice galaxies Mike. great work.

[Geoff45]

Interesting read Mike. Nothing like the good old days eh? I came across this old thread while doing a search on ngc1924, the lone galaxy in Orion worth imaging.
Geoff

[multiweb]

:lol: Nearly had a heart attack. I thought Mike was starting to do flats. :P
You know that this year Santa started adding astro-imagers who don't to the naughty list right? :question:

[strongmanmike]

:lol: wow that's a blast from the past Geoff :thumbsup:

And Marc, I am using flats now, so I should get something from Santa :D

Mike

[atalas]

The day will come when you can only look to past....hope that day hasn't come yet Mike!hehe