NGC7331 and little friends

[RickS]

Unbarred spiral NGC7331 in Pegasus and several other members of the NGC7331 group. Also some satellite dwarf galaxies, a very faint stellar stream and some IFN. The biggest of the satellite galaxies is PGC2051985, between 3 and 4 o'clock, which shows an obvious elongation in the direction of NGC7331. The rest are tiny smudges.

Because the weather is still crappy this is another remote image from Jim & Linda Powell's TEC 160FL/SBIG STL8300m at DSE in New Mexico. I added a little luminance from the RCOS 14.5" at DSW to improve the detail.

Jim & Linda TEC 160FL, DSW, captured 3-26 Oct 2016

Scope: TEC 160FL FL=1152.68mm (OTA #30/TEC-FF)
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STF-8300M
Filters: Astrodon Gen II LRGB, 5nm NB
Guiding: Lodestar/OAG
Focuser: Starizona Microtouch, FocusMax 4
Image scale: 0.966 arcsec/pixel (Drizzled up)
Exposures: 22x600s R, 20x600 G, 20x600s B, 66x600s + 9x900s L (~24 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8

I tried to keep some of the faint stuff so the background is a bit furry and the stars are soft, but I kinda like that.

Big version at Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/294551/0/

Constructive criticism is always appreciated :)

Cheers,
Rick.

[Camelopardalis]

Beautifully detailed spiral there Rick :thumbsup: but what's with the pointy things on the stars :P

[cometcatcher]

Brilliant image Rick. I remember once upon a time only M31 could be photographed like that. It reminds me of a small version of it.

[DJScotty]

Very nice Rick

[markas]

Great detail and colour. I like this one!:)

Mark

[Stevec35]

Nice one Rick. It's a pity this one isn't higher in the sky for us down south.

Steve

[alpal]

Beautiful picture Rick,
thanks for sharing.

cheers
Allan

[RickS]

Thanks, Dunk. The real reason I blend a little RCOS luminance is just to get those spikes ;)



Thanks, Kevin. Now that you point it out, there is a bit of a resemblance to M31!



Thanks, Scott.



Thanks, Mark.



Ta, Steve. Yes, there's some great stuff we miss down here. It doesn't seem fair :)



Thanks, Allan.

[codemonkey]

Nice work, Rick.

[Atmos]

A wonderful galaxy grouping Rick, nice to see things that don't show up so far south on planet Earth :P

[Paul Haese]

Really nice work Rick, excellent colour, bright background and sharp detail. All good in my opinion.

[Andy01]

This is a great image imo - it has a 3D effect that you see shooting a subject at f2.8 with the background out of focus (bokeh).

No idea how you achieved this, the galaxy is the real hero of the shot, contrasting beautifully against the supporting cast of distant galaxies in the background. :thumbsup:

...and +1 all the stuff that Paul H said above :)

[Geoff45]

Very nice Rick. I particularly like the good detail in some of the little friends.
Geoff

[RickS]

Thanks, Lee.



Ta, Colin. I keep thinking we need some sort of astronomer exchange program with the northern hemisphere.



Thanks very much, Paul.



Thanks, Andy! That's an interesting thought... mask the main subject and use the SimulateMultiscaleBokeh process :lol:



Thanks, Geoff! It's an interesting challenge to blend the refractor lum with the RCOS to try and keep the detail and also the depth.

[topheart]

Very nice Rick!
Cheers,
Tim

[strongmanmike]

This is really one of the best looking galaxy fields in the sky IMO and you have done a fine job Ricki :thumbsup:. The companion spirals and the faint galactic cirrus complete the scene. Gee this pastime/obsession is bluudy cool, the things we get to capture and the diversity of targets is so amazing, I feel sorry for all those out there who have never heard of imaging this stuff or think it is an oddity :lol: :)

Mike

[PRejto]

Rick,

As usual a beautiful image and very colourful. I too like the milky effect of the background.

One question, not a criticism, were the background galaxies stretched (more) in relation to the main galaxy? I only ask because to my eyes they look possibly overly bright considering they must be a lot further away. Maybe it's just that you beautifully protected the core of 7331 and the medium sized smaller galaxies seem bright right in the cores and rival the brightness of the brightest stars (which we expect to look closest).

Another great image from a TEC. Yay TEC.

Peter

[Spookyer]

That scene is chock full of stuff. Nice one Rick.

[marc4darkskies]

A magnificent field Rick! Beautifully processed!

[Slawomir]

I also like the dream-like fuzziness of this image Rick. Maybe a few stars look too blue, but I'm definitely very picky with that. Top processing, as usual.

[RickS]

Thanks, Tim.



Thanks very much, Mike! I agree entirely. It's the best hobby ever :thumbsup:



Thanks, Peter. There was a fair amount of work done on the dynamic range of the main galaxy. I originally included the smaller galaxies but because of their scale it didn't work so well. That's probably what you noticed.



Thanks, Brett.



Thanks, Marcus!



Thanks, Suavi. I might have got a little carried away with the blue curve but I do like it ;)

[strongmanmike]

Yeah I like blue too :D...I often blueify my images a tad :thumbsup:

Mike

[atalas]

Another gorgeous shot Rick:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:: thumbsup:

[RickS]

Thanks, Louie!

[Placidus]

Now there's a proper galaxy. Dozens and dozens of them! Beautiful processing.

[RickS]

Thanks, M&T!

[Flugel88]

Wow so much to see in there!
I love those crisp colours nice image Rick

[strongmanmike]

Havin another look Ricki...great scene this huh? :)

Mike

[RickS]

Thanks, Michael.



Ta, Mikey. Yes, it's just like someone gave those galaxies instructions on where to stand :lol: