Lots of tiny tarantulas: NGC 300 in H-alpha

[Placidus]

NGC 300 in H-alpha, taken over two nights of the new moon.

A slightly reduced (70% full pixel size) original version here. (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-8dMdtZr/0/O/F%20NGC%20300%20H-alpha%2013hrs.jpg)

Remember reading a wise guru explaining patiently how those using narrowband filters on a galaxy should be sent to re-education camp?

13 off 1hr subs, 2x2 binned. (Unbinned, you don't see so much).

The sheer giga-tonnage of star-forming activity shows up the spiral arms quite spectacularly. Lots of little Tarantula's and Eta Carinae nebs and M42's, all wanting to scuttle off the page.

It is 6 million light years away. Even after 13 hours, the image is still appallingly gritty, but more hours will have to await next new moon, or next year, so we thought we'd show what we have.

Here we've dropped the H-alpha in as red (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-bHdGcfj/0/O/NGC%20300%20Ha%2013hrs%20L%2010%20R GB%204hrs%20each.jpg) the top of the LRGB version.


Best,
Mike and Trish

[Andy01]

That's sooooo coool :cool3: as in sub zero antarctic cool.
Like a new art form in itself, I love it :thumbsup:

Well done for out of the box thinking too :)

[el_draco]

What a GREAT shot. Imagine the night sky with that little beauty above you...

[codemonkey]

That's awesome guys. Goddamnit, I'm almost tempted to go for some Ha on this one now... and I was getting sick of looking at it too :p

[Somnium]

wow, how fascinating, it really demonstrates the fact that different filters show up specific regions and activities within an object. i dont think this is the result that the average man on the street would think you would get by looking at a galaxy in a 3-5nm wavelength in the red.

[Placidus]

Thanks so much, Andy. Sadly can't take credit for being too original. We did do a shot of Barnard's Galaxy in H-alpha (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-SGB4CH4/0/X3/Barnard%27s%20Galaxy%20Ha%2013h%20L %2013h%20RGB%2090m-X3.jpg) a long time ago, so had some idea what to expect, but this time we had seen the ESO H-alpha (www.eso.org/public/images/eso0221c/) shot.



Cheers, Rom!



Thanks, Lee!

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Aidan.

[RickS]

Looks even more like M33 in Ha than it does in RGB, M&T :) Thanks for the interesting view.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Atmos]

That is a fascinating shot! Certainly looks like there are a considerable number of star forming regions in that galaxy.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, a very cool thing to do guys :thumbsup: and looks quite dramatic. I recall seeing another amateur do this in the past but I can't recall who or when :question:

Mike

[Placidus]

Here we've dropped the H-alpha shot over the top (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-bHdGcfj/0/O/NGC%20300%20Ha%2013hrs%20L%2010%20R GB%204hrs%20each.jpg) of the LRGB shot, mapping H-alpha to red. There's a total exposure of 35 hours now.




Thanks, Rick! So it really is the proper southern pinwheel.



Thanks Colin



Cheers, Mike!

[strongmanmike]

Although not quuuite the barrage seen of NGC 253 images :scared: :rundog: :P NGC 300 is still a popular target, so it has to look really good or a bit different to elicit more than "nice image" or just "nice" :lol:...in this case it is both really good and different, so...umm?...nice image! :D

Mike

[alpal]

Hi Mike and Trish,
what an amazing image - NGC 300 in Ha.
I've never seen that before &
1 hour subs binned 2x2 !!!
You are giving me ideas. :)

cheers
Allan

[DJT]

Well that was interesting, MnT. Introduced Bias!

I looked at the Ha first then at the LRgb combined with the Ha data and you are immediately aware of the structures of those star forming regions in the very fine LHaRGB image.

Usually when I look at an Galaxy image with added Ha, I don't pick up on just what an impact it has to the overall image. So I'll be paying more attention in the future.

great idea to show both images.:thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Thanks, Mike. I think I'm working out that for a well-imaged object, "nice" might mean a gold star and a koala stamp. :)



Thanks, Allan. For really faint stuff, a dark site, ultra-long subs, and 2x2 binning are the way to go.



Cheers, David. Glad you like it and had fun comparing.

Best,
Mike

[andyc]

Have a gold star and a koala stamp from me! It's pretty cool to see a galaxy like this imaged a little differently, and just to see how many of the bright knots are associated with big nebulae. Thanks for posting!

[Placidus]

Thanks, Andy, that's encouraging. For me, the straight H-alpha reveals amazing secrets, but because I'm colour blind and can't see red, the version with the H-alpha dropped in as red over the top of the RGB shot is disappointing. I've written myself a little program to swap the red and blue channels, so I can see these infernal HII regions, not just on our images, but on other peoples shots too.

Best,
Mike

[gregbradley]

That looks fantastic. The knots of Ha areas in that galaxy are amazing.

It really adds to the colour image as well. Love it.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

The Ha image alone is very interesting MnT. The colouring with the addition of the Ha is dramatic and seems pretty seamless.

[croweater]

]Great stuff Mike and Trish. There is a interesting ring of neb at top and a little right of centre of the galaxy that keeps grabbing my attention. Good comparing between both images. Cheers, Richard

[RobF]

Fascinating to see all those massive bubbles of H2. Love it!

:bowdown: :cheers:

[Placidus]

Thanks, Greg, our tails are wagging!



Thanks very much Paul. Wasn't clear how that technique would go, but it seems workable.



Thanks Richard. While the very bright Tarantula-like rings are dramatic, it's the very large but subtle ones that seem to add the most interest for us.



Thanks, Rob, and thanks for the virtual beers!

[Shiraz]

fascinating look at 300. Haven't really bothered much with Ha for galaxies, but this image shows how much there is to see in that band. Thanks for the re-education.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Ray. Next year, perhaps, we'd like to get much more H-alpha, to reduce the grit.

[Slawomir]

I really like the B/W version - very captivating photo, thank you Mike and Trish :thumbsup:

[alistairsam]

wow, fascinating. Who'd have thought. well you'll did.
so now do we all set our filters to Ha and point at Galaxies?!!

nice work

Cheers
Alistair

[Placidus]

Thanks Slawomir and Alistair. Does make us wonder how many of the dozen biggest nearest and dearest galaxies look so impressive in H-alpha. Magellanic Clouds and Barnard's Galaxy show a lot of interesting structure in H-alpha.

Best,
M & T

[marc4darkskies]

Very nice M&T! :thumbsup: The Ha only is certainly a different and informative view of 300! Didn't realise there was so much emission in there! The colour version is just beautiful & quite compelling too! :thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[Placidus]

Thanks, Marcus, that's very kind.

[Regulus]

Wow. Excellent photo. Really liked touring the large version. Thanks.

Trev

[alpal]

Thanks Mike,
Yes - you have a point.
I also found this ESO picture of NGC 300 in Ha.

https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0221c/

cheers
Allan

[Ryderscope]

A wonderful journey playing 'spot the Galaxy' in the background whilst appreciating the foreground display.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Rodney. We had fun too.

[Placidus]

Thank-you's slightly out of order due to pressing the wrong button.



Thanks, Allan. The ESO shot is truly awesome.



Cheers, Trevor, we're glad you like it.

[Bassnut]

The Ha dropped into the RGB looks great, its supprising the number of nebs that pop out.

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Fred.

Would like to go deeper on this. Sadly, our focuser is playing up again. Our fault for having a ton of stuff hanging off it. Just written to PlaneWave asking for a quote on a replacement so we can wear that out too.