Ngc 2997

[Mickoid]

This face on Spiral Galaxy is located in the constellation Antlia, it's about 30 million light years from us. I captured it very early this morning from my front yard under a very warm night and light polluted sky.

I used a modded Canon 550d DSLR with a UV/IR cut filter connected to a 8 inch f5 Newtonian. 25 x 2min unguided subs at 800iso on an HEQ5pro mount.

[mental4astro]

Michael,

I was not aware of this spiral! Antlia isn't resplendent with notable DSO's, so this one has gone totally unnoticed by me :ashamed:

I'll make a point of having a Captain Cook at it next dark sky time I get. Or even have a shot at it from home with my video rig.

Lovely capture too. The soft glow of the galaxy with the brilliance, sparkle and colour of the foreground stars makes for a nice composition :)

Alex.

[Mickoid]

Thanks for your comments Alex. This galaxy is not as big or as bright as M83 but I was just looking for something different to shoot that was between the trees at that time. The soft look of the galaxy was not my intention but merely a result of trying to control the light pollution which had reduced contrast dramatically. My subs were a light red colour so achieving a neutral dark background and maintaining some definition in the galaxy was rather difficult. I was surprised the stars retained their colour despite the light pollution. This would be a great subject from a dark sky site. :)

[Ant0nio]

Very nice Mick, as Alex mentioned Antila is rather empty which prompted me to do some research. It certainly is a lonely Galaxy & nicely captured. Any plans to add more data?
Cheers,
Tony

[Mickoid]

Thanks Tony. Basically, I don't like wasting a clear night, they can be so far and few that any opportunity I have to shoot something, I will. Call me mad if you want, as it was so warm when I shot this at about 1.00am, I was only in shorts, T shirt and thongs. Not the best environment for an uncooled DSLR! I wasn't expecting a masterpiece and really just wanted to see if I could pick this galaxy up in such adverse conditions. I was, for the first time, able to push my unguided subs out to 2 mins, which I'd never done before with the 8 inch f5 Newt. In answer to your question, I won't be adding more data to this one but I would like to start again away from the city lights and compile a lot more data on it, I'm sure the results would be much improved! :D

[Ant0nio]

That's a remarkable result in that case Mick, 2mins unguided is about as good as it gets I think. No, I don't think you're :screwy:, that would be pot/kettle:).
Tony

[ChrisV]

+1. 2 min unguided on such a Galaxy, that sounds really difficult. Nicely done

[raymo]

I got a similar image of it with an 8" Newt some 9 yrs ago, but it is smaller
in my image, maybe it has got nearer over the ensuing years.:D
Although I used much shorter subs, and therefore got less of the outer
parts of the galaxy, for some reason the galaxy is more sharply defined; I'm
guessing different viewing conditions.
raymo

[carlstronomy]

Lovely image, great detail and natural colours. :thumbsup:

I feel a sketch appearing soon from Alexander :P

[Mickoid]

I had to chuck quite a few subs away due to the power supply losing charge as the night progressed and caused trailing but until then, most had tracked well, as a result of good polar alignment and balance.


Don't panic Raymond, it was slightly cropped to avoid the coma, the galaxy is still receding from us!


Thanks Carl, the detail wasn't too bad considering the circumstances, seeing must have helped me here. Good thing about shooting in the suburbs, you don't need a torch to see where you're going!

[mynameiscd]

Great shot Michael,
Really clean, crisp , stars with the galaxy sitting there perfectly.
Suprised you get thie clarity from light polluted skies.
Well done.
Cheers
Andy

[Mickoid]

Thanks Andy, it surprises me too just how much post processing can extract from what appears to be a flat washed out image. I could make out the galaxy in my subs, so that was a good enough reason to retrieve what little was there and see what I could come up with. :)

[Anth10]

Light pollution or not, that turned out like a gem Mick. Mate the dust is piling up on my Newt and yours is soaking in the photons! Keep it up Mick, your always having a crack, hats off to you👍

[mental4astro]

I've been following this thread develop and reading about the technical difficulties, and I keep coming back to your pic with all of this in my mind, and I'm liking this photo of yours more and more :)

The soft, teetering glow of the spiral, with its tenuous dark lanes, and diffuse eye-like core, it now looks increasingly more like a far distant background ghost with a curtain of sharp, multi-coloured foreground stars. There's a neat 3D effect going on here. Move your head and the foreground stars almost seem to move too across 2997... Having the galaxy more brilliant and sharper would diminish the charm of this photo.

I really like it more and more :D

Alex.

[Mickoid]

Thanks Anthony, there's an easy solution, blow off that dust and get out there, still plenty of interesting objects to discover and photograph, I enjoy the peace and solitude out under the stars and I'm happy once I've made the effort. I know it's hard to find motivation sometimes.


Thanks Alex, that's the description from an artist and I've had a look at some of your sketches, I can see why you enjoy this shot because it is subtle and similar to what you might see through the eyepiece. Feel free to sketch it if you want! :)