Duelling Galaxies - NGC 5101 and NGC 5078

[marc4darkskies]

Here is my rendition of NGC 5101 and NGC 5078 - a face-on barred spiral teamed up with an edge-on. They are separated by a mere 800,000 ly and 5078 appears to be interacting with its companion, IC 879.

I started imaging this in 2014 just after I got my OS. I started with 4.5 hours of Lum and I've now augmented that with 90 minutes of synthetic Lum and 5 hours of RGB for a total of 11 hours integration (equivalent).

For those who prefer to see low res, this version is for you - it fits (more or less) on your PC screen:
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/165561612/original

For the rest of you who'd like to cruise around and check out all the faint fuzzies in the frame, here is the full resolution version (as usual - <Cntrl + or -> to zoom in or out):
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/155783443/original

Pretty happy with the result.

[leon]

And so you should be Marcus, that is spectacular, ;) and worth all that time and effort, very nice. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Might even want to squeal like.... well...we won't go there

Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

Nice one :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alpal]

Nice picture Marcus,
It's an interesting picture to see so many galaxies.
I wonder - is the black point set to low?
It's very dark in the background?

cheers
Allan

[topheart]

Congratulations Marcus - this is an absolutely outstanding rendition.

An amazing composition.

Cheers,
Tim

[Andy01]

Only on the iPhone but looks amazing, can't wait to get itvup in high res.
Woohoo!

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks very much Leon!



Ta Peter. "Weeeeeeeeeee! Weeeeeeeeeeee!"



Thanks Allan! Yep heaps of faint fuzzies in there! Many of the faintest spots are also galaxies



Nope, no clipping. See histogram below. Besides, space is black! :P Moreover, I dislike bright backgrounds in deep space images



You're too kind! Thanks Tim!



Cheers Andy! I'm happy with this one too! :D

[cometcatcher]

Beautiful galaxy pair beautifully taken. Love the smaller galaxies behind the bigguns.

[Andy01]

Had to fire up the mac tonight to do this justice - so glad I did, it's one of the most beautiful galaxy fields I've seen, just wow, amazing! :bowdown:

[glend]

Very nice Marcus. :eyepop:

[gregbradley]

We'll that is just spectacular.
Perfect processing and great detail.
You got the vertical dust plumes.
I miss your regular images. I know you have been set back by weak seeing conditions
Which I well understand
Greg

[Martin Pugh]

Very nice Marcus. Some great detail especially in 5101.

Good job.

Cheers
Martin

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Kevin!



Thanks very much Andy! Yes, a properly calibrated screen makes all the difference. On my phone the image looks black clipped.



Ta Glen!



Cheers Greg! Yes, the average seeing was only fair so I was happy with the detail I achieved. It was even good enough to post full res! :D. I hope we can get a run of clear and stable skies during the dark part of the lunar cycle this month! I think I'll do a neb next so I can do some NB.



Glad you liked it Martin. The detail doesn't quite compare with your APOD winning rendition but I was happy given the conditions and integration time.

[Octane]

Even with elongated stars, this is simply outstanding!!!

Oh, how I pine for focal length when I see images like this!

H

[strongmanmike]

An excellent shot Marcus, the contrast in galaxy shapes is quite beautiful and a good composition, I don't mind the black sky. Minor C&C...at the large size a little star elongation is noticeable, picky..? hey, cant see any decon artefacts :face:...aaand easily fixed ..otherwise, bloody lovely :thumbsup:

Mike

[traveller]

Holy guacamole, that's a stunner. :eyepop::eyepop::eyepop:

[Retrograde]

Absolutely amazing in hi-res. So much to see :eyepop:

[marc4darkskies]

Cheers H! I should explain that I used data from early 2014 before I had refined my collimation - hence a bit of elongation. Anyway, I've now lessened this a bit so it's not as obvious (I hope).



Thanks a lot Mike! Glad you think it's a good one! As mentioned above, my 2014 data was before collimation teaks but I've now lessened the elongation a bit so it's less obvious (top right and right side and bottom left and left side. Any remaining elongation is not fixable without using star rounding (which I don't do!) or taking a lot of time fixing each star!! Now, you and H need to put your magnifying glasses away! :lol::P



Thanks very much Bo!



Cheers Pete! Glad you liked it!

[strongmanmike]

I wasn't looking thaaaaat closely, just used one of these small instruments, doesn't work for decon though....

[Octane]

I rarely, rarely ever peek at star shapes! I just happened to be swimming around in your large resolution version and noticed them. :)

H

[Octane]

New version is much better!

H

[RickS]

NGC 5101 is the highlight for me too, but an altogether wonderful field. Fantastic work, Marcus :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

The highres is great Marcus. So many faint fuzzies with visible structure in them. Of course the main course is superb. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Hehe ... no worries guys. I did know about it, but forgot to mitigate it. Thanks for reminding me! :) In any case, I'm asking for close inspection by posting full res - so all good!



Cheers mate!



Thanks a lot Rick! Very glad I've hit the mark!



Thanks Marc. Glad you liked it! I love the richness of the field too and worked hard to show it to good effect. As pretty as the main courses are, the faint background galaxies are just as fascinating and thought provoking.

[Placidus]

That is super-special, Marcus. You must be thrilled. :eyepop:

[Atmos]

Just beautiful Marcus. The background galaxies are really interesting when going swimming while there are a few big bright ones to view when not swimming!

[PRejto]

Wow, great image and beautifully processed! Keep them coming.

Peter

[Stevec35]

Nicely done Marcus. Colour is spot on and any star elongation barely noticeable. Love the tiny background galaxies too.

Cheers

Steve

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks very much M&T!



Cheers Colin! Stating the obvious perhaps, but it's well worth the processing effort to bring out the faint stuff - it really makes a field like this much more compelling. I'm not shooting megadata here either so it's quite a challenge.



Thanks a lot Peter!



Thanks Steve. I thought about not using the 2014 data (before the OS was properly collimated) but the thought of re-shooting the Lum was loathsome given my less than reliable wether conditions here.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Yes, very nice image Marcus - great detail and colour! ... and of course I agree that the dark background adds to the aesthetic appeal :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks very much David!

[markas]

Great shot, Marcus! I also like the colour range and balance.

Mark

[alan meehan]

Really stunning Marcus what a amazing field of galaxies
Thanks for the visual
ALAN

[Peter Ward]

New! improved !

Wonderful stuff Marcus !

Seriously....long focal length images seem to be rare birds these days...I suspect under appreciated by many, hence it's great to see of few fine examples of late. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Cheers Mark!



Thanks Alan! I find galaxy fields are always very thought provoking.



Yep, I hear you! Thanks very much Peter!

Narrow field rules!! :D

[astronobob]

wow wow Marcus, I havent been in 'deep sky' section for a while, and I dont image at this calibre, but non-the-less, This is an extremely noice view at full res, I'm gobsmacked at all the fuzzies in there :eyepop:

Just awesome to see such a beauty of deep sky :thumbsup:
Inspirational & congratts :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Cheers Bob! Very pleased the image hit the spot for you! Maybe you need to visit Deep Sky more often? :)