Sauron's Eye

[Paul Haese]

Still a work in progress, but this image is approaching what I had in mind. I have wanted to image this target for quite a few years. I have had several attempts at it but until now I was not able to get an LRGB data set.

This galaxy is really interesting. It is a Seyfert galaxy with a supermassive black hole of 140 million solar masses at its core. The black hole is pulling in so much material that is it causing star forming in the ring just around the core. That ring is approximately 5000 light years in diameter. The galaxy also has optical jets with show up in long exposure. I have captured two of the jets and there is vague hints of the third one but I cannot find see the 4th one at all. The optical jets were first thought to be relativistic jets but radio studies have proven this not to be the case and it is now established that these jets are composed of stars. Most likely being formed by the consumption of a dwarf galaxy.

The colour data is a bit thin for my liking. The blue data is high cloud affected and that has led to some blue blotchiness in the back ground. I am planning to pick up more data in the colour in the next week or so and during the following new moon. Not to mention trying for more luminance data to try for the other optical jets.

So I hope you like what you see so far. Feel free to comment as you please.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC1097LRGB.html) for larger resolution image.

[rustigsmed]

looking good paul!
love the resolution at the core

[Atmos]

There is an amazing amount of detail in there Paul. If this is what you're not quite happy with, look forward to what you are :P

[gregbradley]

Stunning Paul. The detail is mind blowing.
2 of the jets are quite clear. I am seeing a bit of that same speckled blue background noise I saw on Ray's recent NGC1566 image though. Mind you my laptop monitor is definitely blue biased.

Greg.

[Placidus]

Glorious. Quite inspiring.

I had only just been reading today about that central ring of star formation in this very galaxy being fed by material falling through the bar into the central black hole in the rather good book Galaxy by James Geach at Univ Hertfordshire.

The resolution in your image is astonishing. Probably three times what we had achieved in our attempt. We were mostly trying to get the jets using lots of 2x2 binned subs. Our small amount of (3 x 1hr) unbinned data is already burned out, even in the raw subs straight out of the camera (see attached). The detail in your nucleus and surrounding "gas ring" of star formation is far superior to ours. Well done!

Best,
Mike

[Regulus]

Really quite remarkable and very pleasing to look at. The blues speckles do subtract somewhat, and i will look forward to the final result if this is a unfinished version.
Can't stop looking at the detail in the heart of the galaxy, it's fascinating.
Very nice Paul.

Trevor

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
that's a top result - I'm jealous.
If you could add some Ha to get more red nebula areas showing up on the arms then it is definitely APOD material.

cheers
Allan

[Somnium]

i have been waiting for you to post this, great work, i can't get enough of the detail around the core. Amazing, thanks for sharing

[RickS]

Already been said many times... but fantastic detail Paul, especially in the galaxy core. A+ for detail but only a B- for jets so far :lol:

Cheers,
Rick.

[RobF]

Watching with interest how this one plays out. The centre looks almost too detailed - I guess you can't really complain about that though? :question: :D

[leon]

That is just stunning Paul, :eyepop:how you guys can do all this is just mind blowing, and you say it is not finished, well i cant wait for the final result, keep at it Paul.:)

Leon:thumbsup:

[astronobob]

Exquisite, Elegant & Graceful Galaxy Image there so far Paul, , Awe-Strucked !

Very 3D'ish!! Which leaves me wondering if them there jets are reaching in toward us, or are they extending into the distance, may not be known ?
But your image very much reveals the galaxy is not flat square-on to us which it appears to be in most images !!

Mighty fine work again & all the best with adding more luminance.

[Stevec35]

Top shelf stuff again Paul!

Steve

[marc4darkskies]

That's a great image Paul! :thumbsup: I think the colour and sharpness at the core are excellent. My only critique though is you have a very noticeable sharpness differential between the core (high s/n) and the outer arms that makes your sharpening efforts a little too obvious. More data might allow you to rectify that.

Cheers, Marcus

[glend]

Wonderful image Paul. I admire your dedication to your craft - and your wonderful equipment setup and location. Your an inspiration to all us imaging 'try hards'.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated.



No the blue speckle is there. The blue subs were affected by high cloud and that has affected the back ground. I only have two subs at 20 minutes in each colour. So lots more data needed yet and I need to replace the blue subs I have already got.



Thanks Mike. I don't know about 3x the resolution but I am pretty happy with the resolution of this image. I think a combined effect of the AO and some pretty reasonable seeing has allowed the detail to show through.

There is always a competing issues between long subs and short subs. Each presents its own merits and each presents its own issues.



Thank Allan. I doubt it will make APOD. I find that the southern hemisphere photographers don't seem to get as much of a chance as perhaps they should. I often look at an APOD and wonder why it made it. I guess it boils down to it is their selection and it is what they like.

Once I get a bit more data and finish the image I will try submitting it to APOD and see what transpires.



That third jet is hard to see even in negative on the luminance. I have 16 hours on luminance and it is barely visible. Once I get the colour I need I might try for another 10 hours of luminance if time permits.

Certainly the down side of a long focal length system and lower QE sensors is not being able to get that faint stuff really quickly. I suspect maybe 30 hours of luminance might show the third jet and possibly start showing that fourth extremely faint one. I do like the upside of a long focal length though.



Thanks Bob. You are probably right that we are seeing the jets as being either looping around the galaxy either slightly in front of the galaxy or behind. I think my processing has led to that view but I could not say it is accurate. It was not intentional on my behalf.



Thanks Marcus, yes the data did not allow a lot of sharpening to the outer arms. Further collection of data might allow a bit more sharpening. I did find though that the outer arms appear more dusty and mottled. Some of the star clusters did not lend to sharpening as they looked weird when I did sharpen them.

[Rod771]

Very nice detail, Paul! :thumbsup:

[AG Hybrid]

Brilliant as usual.

[gvanhau]

Excellent image so far, congrats.

I'm currently also imaging the same target, but I don't expect to get a result near yours, because my obs in in a heavy light polluted area.

[multiweb]

Superb colours and details. One of your best galaxy shots. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Stunning Paul, the selective (I guess) processing and sharpening is masterful and well done.