NGC3312, NGC3314 and Hydra Cluster

[Paul Haese]

This image is of the Hydra cluster and centred on NGC3312 and NGC3314. NGC3312 appears as an almost edge on spiral galaxy and NGC3314 is two overlapping galaxies spaced at 117 million and 140 million light years. It is just purely a coincidence that these two galaxies line up to our line of sight. There are also a few giant elliptical galaxies in the field.

I am still trying to hunt down the star shape problem and have seen some improvement with the installation of a counter weight on the secondary assembly. So some of the star shapes are ok and some are a little egg shaped.

The image is an integration of 14 hours with 10 hours of it being luminance.

Click here (http://paulhaese.net/NGC3312.html) for larger resolution image.

[troypiggo]

That’s cool! Those 2 overlapping galaxies - never seen that before.

[strongmanmike]

Nice job Paul, both this and Rays awesome result (https://www.astrobin.com/full/289253/0/?real=&mod=) show pretty clearly that one simply does not need an expensive RC or even a traditionally long focal length scope to produce a cracker galaxy image :)...have I said that before...:question: :lol:...sorry :P besides the greater speed also tends to mean exposures measured in dozens of hours, are not necessary either.

Mike

[Octane]

That is such an awesome field.

Superb work, Paul! It's images such as these that make me want for a long focal length instrument. Mosaics are the ultimate, but, they're tiring me out, lol.

H

[Placidus]

An inspiring tour-de-force. So much happening, and so sharp.

An image such as we have only dreamed of.

[atalas]

Excellent field with good detail on the little fellas Paul:thumbsup:

[PKay]

Incredible...

[gregbradley]

Fantastic result Paul.
A wonderful field and terrific
processsing.

Greg

[Atmos]

That’s an excellent image Paul! Those two overlapping galaxies certainly make the image. So many tiny galaxies just popping through the blackness of the universe :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Another great result Paul. Whatever processing routine you have settled on it's clearly working well :thumbs:

[barx1963]

That field is one of my favourite areas to get visually. Still remember the night not long after I started using the 20" dob, I had a look at it on a beautiful night and the more I looked the more galaxies kept appearing. After a few minutes I was counting nearly 20 within a single FOV. It is very nice to see a more detailed view of the field that will enhance my appreciation next time I manage to catch some visual photons!!

Thanks Paul

Malcolm

[Stevec35]

Top shelf stuff Paul! Brilliant processing!

Steve

[RickS]

Great result, Paul :thumbsup: That's a fascinating field.

[Tony_]

Magnificent image Paul!!
Brilliant detail - superb field of galaxies.

Tony.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. It's a lovely little field that I could easily spend another 20 hours imaging. The some of the fainter galaxies only just starting showing detail in the last few hours of the luminance.




Yep I am sold on the fast Newt small pixel combo. I really do like the speed aspect. Coupled with a half decent image scale it makes life a lot easier when imaging. However, I do not really like taming the tilt or gravity induced movement in the secondary assembly (something that GSO needs to get sorted in their next lot of scopes. The secondary cage is under engineered by miles and not suitable for off the shelf imaging event with a QSI). Something the RC does not suffer from fortunately, though it has its own issues.

I think that both systems have their strengths and weaknesses which I will be reminded of when I commission the RC back into the dome (the Newt will be in the roll off roof). Then I will have to be patient with collecting data with RC and use the speed boat for doing fainter stuff.

Overall I am a happy camper with the Newtonian. If I could afford a bigger Hercules Newtonian (http://www.telescopeshercules.com/telecopes)with the rotating secondary I would snap it up in a minute and do away with the RC altogether.

[Andy01]

Crackerjack image Paul - well processed and a lovely field indeed :):thumbsup:

[Joshua Bunn]

Top shelf image there Paul, i did this FOV a few years ago and it certaily is an interesting one!

Josh

[codemonkey]

Great work Paul! I'd short-listed this one as a target for this year; you've set the bar high!

[Martin Pugh]

Very nicely done Paul.

cheers
Martin

[Paul Haese]

Thanks guys for the comments. :)

[Ross G]

That is one beautiful galaxy photo Paul!

So much detail.....so many galaxies.

I love the colours and composition.

Ross.

[el_draco]

NGC 3312 is magnificent on the full image!

[marc4darkskies]

Love Galaxy clusters! Excellent result Paul. That Newt is humming!

Marcus

[markas]

Very nice image Paul.

Re the out-of-round stars: This looks to me like a tilt problem.

Fast Newtonians are extremely tricky to align, and axial collimation alone does not guarantee good performance across a camera field of view. There are two approaches: one is to install a tilt corrector - often not possible because of the short backfocus.

The other is to play with the secondary position along the primary axis. I know from experience that this is extremely tedious and time-consuming.......but you probably knew this anyway:) Forgive me if this is redundant info.....

Mark

[DaveNZ]

Fantastic effort Paul.

Fast Newts have their benefits. Let us when you get the big Herc ;-)

[Gary_1965]

Beautiful image.
Can't believe there are so many galaxies captured within that shot.
:eyepop: