Grus Trio and 273 friends

[Placidus]

At last, some clear sky. :D 36 hours exposure on the Grus spiral trio, over 4 consecutive nights, processed to show as many as possible of the myriad of background galaxies, many of whom, as the police would say, have form.

We counted some 273 definites. It's easy to spot even extraordinarily small and distant edge-on spirals because of their shape, easy to spot giant ellipticals because they are very red and fluffy. But smaller ellipticals are harder to tell from stars. Arguing statistically that they should outnumber the spirals, we think there could easily be several hundred smaller ellipticals and face-on spirals that are in the photo but unrecognized.

There are also a small number of Magellanic type galaxies in the shot that are very faint but identifiable because of their blue granular appearance.

Lum: 18 x 1 hour unbinned. RGB: each channel 6 x 1 hour unbinned. Field 36' arc across. (Thumbnail is a crop of about half that).

Aspen CG16M at -30C on 20" PlaneWave CDK on MI-750 mount. Scope and camera control software and image processing software written by Mike.

Original image here. (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-vqGFmmg/0/O/Grus%20Spiral%20Trio%20L%2018h%20RG B%206h%20each.jpg)

Hope you like it and thanks for looking.

[codemonkey]

Epic! Great work.

[strongmanmike]

I usually find this trio of galaxies just a little lack lustre in images with very little visual difference between shots regardless of the instrument used....but yours is sen-bloody-sational :thumbsup: beautiful and I recon pretty accurate colour too.

As you have pointed out, it's a great field for background galaxies this one, was fun having a good surf around, great delineation of the different galaxy morphologies and colours too, an image worthy of the calibre of equipment used (BTW I can juuust see the decon used in the two small galaxies but not so much in the big one :D)

What's the red object in dead centre?

Great stuff

Mike

[Placidus]

Thanks, Lee.



We're greatly encouraged by your comments, Mike. Thought you'd spot the decon. Its a fair cop, Gov. We're hoping that the red UFO in the direct centre is actually just the south galactic pole come adrift, or a loose reindeer nose, rather than yet another artifact. There's nothing at that spot in say the Capella Namibia shot, but ours seems deeper, so who knows.

[strongmanmike]

:lol: mate, you know me and decon :help:, it's pretty hard to see but I knew you'd see the fun in it, it's a great image :thumbsup:

Funny, it doesn't really look like an artefact huh?

[gregbradley]

Very nice Mike.

Aperture rules.

Greg.

[leon]

That is just unreal, :eyepop:what an awesome image and so crisp and sharp, well done indeed. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[DJT]

Awesome image, MnT. An incredibly number of galaxies in the frame and the colour and processing is great.

:thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks, Greg.



Thanks, Leon, you are very kind.




Thanks, David! We'd done this one before with the old SBIG STL-11000M, and caught over a hundred galaxies, but they were mostly just hints and smudges. This time, with a newer camera and four times the exposure, we can see colour and detail in many more.

[jwoody]

That's great, a top image image. It makes one think that I must try a lot harder!
Well done

[Paul Haese]

I tried having a go at this group a year or so ago with the 12. At the time it was still being tweaked but I did not get any where near the detail seen here. I really like the little clusters of galaxies up near the middle top of the image. There is a small ring of galaxies leading to an elliptical that looks fascinating. So many interesting shapes and so many galaxies. Very deep image.

Maybe take care of the star flare at the bottom right. There is some green there from the flare.

All up though, well done Mike and Trish. :thumbsup:

[Somnium]

Wow, fantastic result. it is easy to focus on the wonderful work on the foreground but when you really concentrate on the smaller galaxies, it resembles the HDF

[Stevec35]

Well it puts my version in it's place. Great shot Mike and Trish!

Steve

[Andy01]

Thats jolly good guys, for a moment there I thought I was looking at the Hubble deep field!
Nice to see what you can do with your big 'scope on galaxies :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks, Jeremy.




Many thanks, Paul. Inspired by your comments, we had a look for galaxy clusters, as opposed to individuals. Well worth while. There seem to be at least three, of which the top centre is the most grand.

We'll take some cosmetic peroxide to the bottom left corner, but I suspect our true weakness is dodgy flats. Must build a better diffuser.



Thanks, Aidan.



Cheers, Steve!



Thank you Andy, that's very kind!

[strongmanmike]

Just had another gander at this M&T and gee it's a cool image, love the background spread, so many galaxies, really good and great to search, well done again :thumbsup:...it has made me want to shoot another galaxy field now :D

Mike

[SkyViking]

As Mike, I've always felt the Grus trio never really caught my interest, but this image certainly puts that notion to rest! Awesome effort and a spectacular result. While the main galaxies are great, the highlight for me is the rich and varied shapes and colours of the distant background galaxies. It's a pleasure surfing around the full resolution image.
Regarding the red spot, it looks like it could be related to the red flare from the bottom right?

[marc4darkskies]

Beautiful image M & T :thumbsup:

[RickS]

The best Grus Trio and surrounds that I've ever seen, M&T. Well done!

[graham.hobart]

Some of my fave galaxies and an excellent deep portrait. Hubblesque!
Thanks for sharing.
Graz

[Placidus]

Excellent! Looking forward with goodly gree to the results. And thank you.




Thanks Rolf. We are indeed greatly encouraged by your kind words. The flare at bottom right is something of an enigma. The most likely culprit is red second magnitude beta gruis, which is the right colour and in the right direction but a long way off. I guess it had 18 hours in which to create havoc.



Thanks Marcus!



Cheers, Rick!



Thanks, Graz, we're glad you like it.

[Octane]

Wow, wow, wow, and just... wow!

Got lost looking at the background galaxies. :O

H

[Bassnut]

Top shelf M&T, so sharp and yet so smooth, many bonus galaxys can be seen and colour balance is excellent.

[Tony_]

Magnificent image! Best image I've seen of this area.
The background galaxies are amazing - I often find them more fascinating than the main galaxies - they demonstrate the massive size the visible universe and the certainty of other planets with life!

Tony.

[marco]

I join the accolade here, fantastic image with lots of details, an epic effort!
Clear skies
Marco

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly Humayun!



Cheers, Fred.



Thanks, Tony. We agree with you that there's bound to be life out there - it happened here just about as soon as was decent after the oceans stopped boiling at the bottom.



Thank you very much, Marco.

[Geoff45]

Great detail and colour Mike and Trish. Nice to see some RGB from you guys. All you need to do now is to make a mosaic that incorporates the 4th member of the trio.
Geoff

[Placidus]

Cheers, Geoff, and thanks for all the fish!

[Rex]

Top Shelf Image Mike and Trish. A wonderful amount of detail and background galaxies. Very smooth, and great colours. All round great result.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Rex!

[Ryderscope]

I am thinking that this image would give the Hubble deep field a run for its money. Stunning.
R

[Placidus]

Thanks Rodney. Perhaps on a galaxies per dollar basis ...

[Camelopardalis]

Beautiful Mike & Trish, well done :thumbsup:

[topheart]

Majestic!

Very well done.

Thanks,
Tim

[Placidus]

Thanks, Dunk!



Glad you like it, Tim.

[RobF]

:bowdown:

Great work. What a wonderful field to swim around in.

[Nicola]

A really great work, congrats!

[Placidus]

Cheers, Rob!



Thanks, Nicola. Nice to hear from you.

Best,
Mike