Barnard's Galaxy in H-alpha and HaRGB

[Placidus]

There are at least two galaxies that show wonderful intricate detail in H-alpha: NGC 300, and Barnard's Galaxy, an irregular dwarf in Sagittarius.

We photographed Barnard's Galaxy in 13 hours of H-alpha back in 2012, but there was considerable moon about.

Here, we've had another go at new moon. Even though we've only got 9.5 hours of H-alpha, it was much better.

Barnard's Galaxy is of pretty low surface brightness (14.4 mag/sq arcmin) even in full spectrum, so it is exceeding faint in H-alpha alone.

[Did someone say faint? This sounds like a job for ... superduck!]

Because it is so faint, we've had to brighten the image approximately 20,000 times over a raw half-hour sub. Consequently the fainter stars will look a bit gritty and the background blotchy. Guiding was also ratty due to intermittent cloud and paucity of good guide stars.

Despite these caveats, we've managed to bring out some pleasingly sharp detail in the hollow shells, intricate stringy knots, and even the odd intriguing horseshoe in the brighter patches of H-alpha nebulosity.

Here it is in H-alpha only. (Here is 9.5 hours in H-alpha only.)

We've added 2 hrs per channel RGB to guide the eye and give a feel for the whole galaxy.

Full size HaRGB image here (https://photos.smugmug.com/Category/Astrophotography-at-Placidus/i-VkFkstk/0/a31bbda0/O/Barnard%27s%20Galaxy%202018%20Ha%20 9p5%20RGB%202hrs%20each.jpg)

Toward the top of the galaxy, you will notice large swathes of bright blue star formation with remarkably little H-alpha. Presumably star formation in these regions is largely complete.

It is fun to compare the H-alpha tangles with the Answer in the Back of the Book (https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0938a/), from the 2.2 metre ESO scope at La Silla.

Aspen CG16M on 20 inch PlaneWave. 0.55 sec arc per pixel. South probably up.

Very best,
Mike and Trish

[Atmos]

You've managed some really nice detail in this faint galaxy. I photographed it maybe two years ago not having any idea what it was, only put in 2 hours or something and your image made mine look like a noisy gritty scant star halo ;) :lol:

It is good to compare against the big professional scopes at times to see how we're going. In your case, you've not missed much at all :thumbsup:

As an aside, there is a lot of IFN in the area too.

[Bart]

Those Outer Ha regions look good!

[billdan]

That came out really good M&T, you can tell its really faint, I'm surprised its got a lot of blue stars, must be still star generating.

Cheers
Bill

[Geoff45]

You guys are really churning out images. This is a good one of a difficult object. It's my nemesis. Every time I try to photograph it something goes wrong (heavy dew, computer failure, guding goes pear shaped etc, etc)

[Placidus]

Thanks, Colin. We'd probably need a much wider field and Fred-like exposure to see the IFN, but what we found was fun.



Thanks Bart!



Aye, Bill, as you say it must have been generating hot new stars until very recently, and it probably still is where there's lots of Ha, but in those upper regions, it's probably just about stopped now as there seems to be no new gas to craft them from.



Hi, Geoff. Hope you get a Gremlin-free crack at it in the future.

Best,
Mike and Trish

[atalas]

Nice work Guy's :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Beaute shot. Reminiscent of the LMC. :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Cheers, Louie!



Thanks Marc. We shall call it the third Magellanic Cloud.

[Atmos]

You don’t need much exposure and looking at my 1.8 hours with a 5”, some of that IFN is in your field.
1.8 hours of data (https://www.astrobin.com/full/258077/B/)

[Placidus]

Wow! Yes, there it is. Lovely photo.

[Ryderscope]

What a great project MnT! Looks like a miniature version of the LMC with the Ha globules spread around. Thanks for an informative write up as well. I suspect that the ESO will start using your images as a benchmark :-)

[Placidus]

Thanks Rodney, and congratulations on your AAPOD :hi:

[gregbradley]

A terrific image. Those Ha areas look a lot like some in the LMC.

Great work.

Greg.

[SimmoW]

Wow that's different! And an intense feel, good one Team

[markas]

Terrific Image! Those Ha bubbles really pop1 (No pun intended:D)


Mark

[codemonkey]

Congrats guys. This looks like a tough one, undoubtedly even more so given your imaging scale. Looks like too much of a challenge for me!

[Placidus]

Thanks Greg! Yes, it really is the Third Magellanic Cloud.



Cheers, Simmo.



Thanks Mark, we'll pop open the Champagne.



Thank you Lee. Our previous attempt at it was ok in the really bright bits, but the background was so moth-eaten there was no point including the 2012 data along with this lot.

[RickS]

Looks great, M&T! I love the little red bubbles and the contrasting star colours.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Paul Haese]

It's a deep look at this galaxy MnT. Colour is nice and vibrant. It's also quite close to an independent discovery of an object I made last year. It might be worth targeting that huge scope on Patchick 161.

[Placidus]

Thanks Rick :)



Thanks muchly Paul.

We've stared at both your image and ours, and we can't see Patchick 161. Google referred us to your image! How far is it in minutes of arc from the centre of Barnard's galaxy, and what is its diameter in minutes of arc? Could you circle it on a thumbnail?

Very best,
Mike

[Paul Haese]

Here are some circled images. The colour version which is the first colour image of this object (top left) and an OIII image (independent discovery image) As you can see it is very faint. As you can see it is a similar size to Barnard's Galaxy, I think with enough integration you would get a pretty interesting looking image.

[Placidus]

Now all is clear.

Top class job Paul, spottlng such a super-faint OIII ring.

[LewisM]

That's a unique and beautiful image!

[Placidus]

Thanks Lewis! :)

[topheart]

Very well done!!
Your quality and productivity are unsurpassed at the moment!!
:)

Tim

[Placidus]

Thanks so much Tim.
We're strongly motivated after 4 months of no camera, then a hot and cloudy autumn, and many another fine technical catastrophe.

Cheers,
MnT