Galaxy pair NGC 3511 & 3513 in Crater

[strongmanmike]

I took Friday, Mon and Tues off work, giving me a possible 5 nights (without work the next day) over the new Moon weekend, to hopefully get out to the observatory and collect some photons. Well, I was blessed with 3 clear nights, so that's not bad, the seeing was very good for half of one of the nights, above average for a few hours of another but only average and sometimes below, the rest of the time, so as usual, I try to use the periods of better seeing for the Luminance if I can and the periods of worse seeing for the RGB. In the end I used every single sub taken over the three nights though...oh except one, where I bumped the counterweights walking my bulky frame around inside the confines of the dome doh! :doh: For a slowly slotherfying, aging and rather bulky individual :whistle: I'm still surprisingly good at squeezing myself around and crawling under the mount/scope/counterweights inside the 2.3m dome (oh and turning it by hand)....errr?..it would be easier if I lost a few inches from around the waist though :sadeyes: :P......ooops :drink:

This lovely pair of small galaxies, is in the southern constellation of Crater (The Cup) and they are both about 45 Million light years away, with the larger NGC 3511 probably the closer of the two. NGC 3511 is an intermediate spiral and is approx 5.8' X 2' while the smaller NGC 3513 is a barred spiral approx 2.9' X 2.4' in apparent size.

NGC 3511 & 3513 in Crater (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/51112923672/in/dateposted/) (This is a close up crop, click on image once to enlarge, then click on it again for a full res view)

The remarkable thing though, at least for me, is the sheer number of faint background galaxies, of all shapes and sizes, all over the full frame image. If your screen is properly contrast/brightness adjusted (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/55347254/original) and you can view in a darkened room, they are bloody everywhere, there would have to be several hundred at least, maybe over 1000 even?! just in this small field :eyepop: and would certainly reach down below Mag 21/22 I recon. Best to view the Full Frame Full Resolution version (https://pbase.com/image/171554411/original) for this faint galaxy surfing though :D

Those with a keen eye will notice the bottom 1/3 or so (and elsewhere in the frame) in the Full Frame colour image, it appears a bit brighter but if we stretch the 8.6hrs of Luminance, we see that this is not a gradient but rather some very faint Galactic Cirrus dust (https://pbase.com/image/171554532/original). I know it is not a gradient because it is in all Luminance frames, in the same spots, taken from both sides of the meridian, plus it clearly looks patchy and like billowing dust clouds, as galactic cirrus tends to look, very faint though...cool :)

Enjoy :)

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Very nice Mike :thumbsup:. A very pretty pair indeed!

3 clear nights huh? Lucky you! I've had 2 with one a write off due to poor seeing (high 2s to 3+ arcsec FWHM). :sadeyes: Aah the joys of a 3.1m FL. :(. Monday night was spectacular though! Other nights dogged by cloud. <sigh>

[alpal]

Great picture Mike,
is it possible to find a better picture anywhere of those targets?
You've gone very deep with nearly 16 hours.



cheers
Allan

[Joshua Bunn]

Couple of bright and colourful interesting pairs there Mike. We'll done!

[AlextheMartian]

Awesome shot Mike:thumbsup:
You can see so much detail in each of the galaxies:eyepop:.
Its fantastic to see that finer background detail of those distant galaxies too.
Lovely stuff:)

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Marcus, who needs an atmosphere anyway..??!! sheesh! :mad2:



:lol: Oh I think so Al, how's a 28" at El Sauce in Chile (https://www.astrobin.com/full/c93n7t/0/)...like I always say, oh to have a scope, any scope, in the Atacama Chile :sadeyes:...:) Sigh, we do the best we can, with what we got, where we got it :)

Thanks for the comment :thumbsup:



Cheers Joshua :thumbsup:



Glad you liked it Alex :thumbsup:

"...yes, I think we got something there...?" :D

Mike

[alpal]

Wow:
Imaged in LRGB on our Officina Stellare RiDK 700 and RiDK 500 (RGB) telescopes at El Sauce (Obstech), Chile.
Frames: 116x900"
Integration: 29.0 hours





Still Mike - what you have done is great considering the differences
in equipment and location.


cheers
Allan

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, I recon so too, thanks mate, you are always so encouraging :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

A very interesting pairing, nicely captured. Taking your gear to the max there.

I haven't seen this one before. You are good at finding these not so common objects.

Greg.

[PKay]

You could lift this one up Mike, only 140kg :)

Nice work by the way...

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Greg, yeah pushing is good fun, hitting Eta, The Chicken and the Statue of Liberty nebs, over and over again, tends to get a little tedious :question: ...still love seeing good images of'em though :thumbsup:



Thanks mate...yeeess...well, there was a time (https://pbase.com/image/68940105/original) many years ago...:rolleyes: all I can do now is occasionally lift someone's spirits...or a beer :question: :lol: but yep, one of those scopes aaaand the appropriate mount...and observatory...at the appropriate location...and the approx $300K required :eyepop:...would indeed be great :lol:

Mike

[Andy01]

Nice work Mike :) - Given the scope & conditions, your image compares favourably to the one in Chile, well done :thumbsup:

[Startrek]

Mike,
Great images of some very dim rascals
Top shelf stuff
Way to dim for my gear
Well done !!
Martin

[cometcatcher]

Nice pair of galaxies. Not wrong about the background ones. They are everywhere.

[Paul Haese]

Well done Mike. The numerous faint fuzzies are easily picked up with these scopes. Those are a nice pair. I'll have to put them on the list too.

[strongmanmike]

Yeah, happy enough with the result Andy :) and as usual, it was lots of fun acquiring it :stargaze: (...not fast asleep, like some people :rolleyes: :lol:). I love the way the top galaxy looks like it is cartwheeling down into the larger galaxy, very cool scene :thumbsup:



Thanks Martin, glad you liked it :thumbsup:



Thanks Galaxy Man :thumbsup:...yeah I know, after dark they spring out of everywhere in the image, quite remarkable really! :eyepop:



That to do list of yours Paul, must be very long....:lol:

Yeah, our scopes are pretty versatile and capable huh?

Mike

[Paul Haese]

Yep it is pretty long, though I am working through it. However, every time I tick one off I see another object worth imaging. It might be in a point of stasis forever more.

I have one of the AG12's tweaked out but still trying to wrangle the other one. Getting close now though. Similar image scales might be good for when Swan Reach is up and running and people wanting to buy time on one.

[tornado33]

Great work and very realistic looking in that the background isn't artificially smooth. Every bit of data captured is visible right down to those faint background galaxies.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Scotterotti :thumbsup: funny you should say that, fact is, I used no noise reduction what so ever..or any gradient removal either, just a decent number of subs, dark enough skies and accurate flats :thumbsup: :)

Mike

[Maurice]

Great shot Mike.
These two galaxies make a lovely pair.
On my list too... :)

As others have mentioned...love seeing the faint fuzzies in the background.

Cheers
Maurice

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Maurice :thumbsup:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

A stunning display Mike. I was particularly drawn to the very clear but faint outer halos that are very evident in both galaxies. A lovely deep image :2thumbs:

[strongmanmike]

Why thanka'ya Squire :thumbsup:

Mike

[matlud]

Really nice Mike, had lots of fun seeing how many galaxies I could find :-)

[strongmanmike]

Good for you Matt :thumbsup:...faint fuzzy hunting is fun :)

Mike

[peter_4059]

Great stuff Mike. It is easy to overlook the small galaxies in the background when there are two beauties in the foreground but as you say there are a stack of small galaxies there. Great to see something different.

Peter

[strongmanmike]

Your right Pete and while I am sure only a few have bothered actually checking it out properly, it's hard to imagine really that there are that many galaxies, in such a small field :eyepop:

Mike

[astroron]

Mike, it look splendiferous on a 42" screen. :eyepop:
The galactic cirrus stands out quite well in a very dark room and on the large screen.
NGC 3511 is very reminiscent of NGC253, and the bar in NGC3513 is so prominent.
Great work as usual.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Ron, glad you checked it out, in your home theatre, makes all the difference :thumbsup:..and if you play the 2001 a Space Odyssey theme, while viewing, it is even better :P

Mike

[Geoff45]

Nice Mike. Having two or more equal sized galaxies in the same image is always a bonus.
Colour looks a tad more saturated than your usual processing

[strongmanmike]

Naaaah me a colour man, Geoff :thumbsup: the last galaxy image I did (in one night) had way too little RGB for such a dim galaxy :( I love colour mate! :D those old fogies scared of colour, just need edjumacating mate :lol: :drink:

Mike

[TrevorW]

Very nice colour in

that pair, great effort :)

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Trev :)

Mike

[topheart]

Hi Mike,
A pretty pair indeed!
Who needs Chile!....I think there's a few places in Australia with a little bit of altitude.... :)

Cheers,
Tim

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Tim :thumbsup:



Indeed :)