Arp 271 - Colliding galaxies in Virgo

[strongmanmike]

NGC 5426/5427 are a pair of galaxies in the very early stages of collision and at a distance of around 127 million light years, they are each only 2.5' in apparent size, so decent sky conditions are required for a good result.

I had imaged this pair several years ago with the same imaging setup, from my previous observatory at Wallaroo, just north of Canberra but I wanted to hit them again with my new and improved site conditions up at Eagleview :).

This is a relatively short exposure, totaling 9hrs, collected over two consecutive nights last New Moon weekend. Seeing and transparency conditions were pretty good, with no wind and low humidity, individual sub frame analysis with MaximDL saw an average FWHM as low as 1.5" while crossing the meridian and averaging 1.8" across the session.

No gradient removal or AI based decon/sharpeing was used. I really could do with a finer image scale, 0.84"/pix is probably not allowing me to take full advantage of the improved seeing conditions...oh well, canni have't all sonny, sigh...and yes, I know, I could get off my R's and try a good 2Xbarlow, for 0.42"/pix....:rolleyes:

Image details are underneath each image:

Arp 271 Close Crop (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173652351/original) and Full frame Full resolution (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173652287/original) (use your screen sliders, or fingers if on a phone, to surf around)

or click on the image and use your cursor to surf around HERE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/52914165266/in/dateposted/) and HERE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongman/52914543593/in/photostream/)

Comparing results Eagleview vs Wallaroo (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173652572/original) best viewed on a monitor rather than your phone.

Hope you like it :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

Beautiful Mike. That is quite an improvement in results from the better seeing.

I was out in the paddocks doing nightscapes over the last few nights at my dark site and the seeing was sensational as well.

That rubs it in after I accidentally fried my AP1600 electronics so I didn't do any scope imaging.


Greg.

[matlud]

Very beautiful Mike -lovely colour and plenty of faint fuzzies in the background to keep you interested. Would be interesting to see if you get any additional resolution from drizzle integration if you are dithering between subs -with your great seeing you might just pick up some more true detail with drizzle.
Cheers
Mat

[Retrograde]

Very cool Mike, what an interesting object!

Great to see the comparison with your previous image. Clearly the new location is delivering the right conditions. ;)

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Greg, yeah Marcus and others, got some good seeing too, everyone is happy :D...except those whose mounts have blown up :eyepop::lol:...sorry, not funny... :sadeyes:



Thanks Mat, yes you are probably quite right, I have meant to look into drizzling for ages :rolleyes:...:help:



Cheers Pete, I am under no delusion that my site is anything special by World standards (think the Andes, Namibia, mountains in the desserts in the southern US etc) but I am just thrilled that the conditions are such a noticeable and consistent improvement over my previous observatory site, which I always considered pretty good :shrug:...I'm not complaining...and while the likes of drizzle guide and BlurEx are a quick fix, like the yearning for more aperture, I think the quest for better seeing quality miiiight just be able to become a fever too :P

Mike

[kosborn]

Great image Mike, and good to see that the conditions at Eagleview are delivering!

I notice that Orroral Valley (my favourite dark site) is finally open this weekend after years of closure from bushfire and floods. While not as good as your location, it is Bortle 2 so, so I'm itching to get back in there. I'm planning a session next new moon. Maybe an unofficial star party for anyone in and around Canberra that might be interested...?

[Dave882]

That’s such an intriguing target Mike. It’s kinda surreal to be able to spectate on such a cosmic calamity. Beautifully captured and processed- and yes love to see you taking advantage of that incredible seeing up there with a finer image scale…but hey…the detail you’re extracting is already wonderful

[alpal]

Fantastic results Mike,
the seeing is definitely better at your new site.
I lost count of the many other faint galaxies in your pic.


CHART32 has a pic if anyone is interested:
http://www.chart32.de/component/k2/galaxies/arp-271-interacting-galaxies-in-virgo


ESO pic
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1821a/



cheers
Allan

[Startrek]

Mike,
What more can I say but a spectacular image capturing the true essence of deep space astrophotography.
An image where most of us mere mortals dream about
Keep ‘em coming from your nest up on top of the world
Well done !!!
Cheers
Martin

[Paul Haese]

Certainly a marked difference in the two imaging attempts. Good seeing always makes these little suckers really pop. There are so many background galaxies too, which makes the field of view interesting.

[marc4darkskies]

Altitude will always improve seeing and good seeing will always improve resolution. It's a nice result Mike. :thumbsup: I agree you need a bit more image scale though.

[markas]

Very nice image, Mike:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Remarkable detail on this relatively distant pair. You are certainly demonstrating the importance of good seeing at your new site.
Mark

PS: As a matter of interest, have you tried a little judicious BlurEx on this?

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Kev, oh yeah Eagleview is delivering alright, amazing spot to visually observe too, the transparency and contrast is brilliant, everything is just so high fidelity and contrasty in the eyepiece. Friday night, my mate and I were using the 18" F4.1 Dob and M17 and M20 both blew our mind, with loud oohs and aaahs from two seasoned observers. Both objects looked like B&W Ha CCD images! but with a hint of colour - both subtle green and warm rose, ..the Swan particularly had that solid, meaty look to the nebulousity, with incredible detail and its characteristic striations seen in images, almost like it had been painted with a spatula, about the best I have see both objects (after 40 years of visual astronomy)...also nabbed the two little Mag 16 galaxies next to M83 too, first time for both of us..and needless to say, M83 itself turned it on too, with all the double arm barred spiral structure and many of the HII/OB association knots you see in images, on display, even without averted vision..incredible :thumbsup:



Thanks a lot Dave, its very fun :D



Cheers big Al, yeah would love a 32" corrected cassegrain up here! :prey:



Will do Martone :thumbsup:



I agree, I love seeing lots of faint fuzzies in the background :thumbsup:



That's what I always thought too but to finally be able to confirm it to myself, quantitatively, with examples, is very satisfying...and even a little (ok a lot) relieving :)



Cheers Mark :thumbsup:

No, don't have PixInsite so no hocus pocus Blur Ex I am afraid :lol:. I use the decon filter in Astroart only, the poor mans, non HST trained, ie lots of work to clean up, version :sadeyes:

Mike

[Ryderscope]

Wow, what a lovely pair of galaxies we have there. Zooming around the image reminds me of the Hubble deep field with all of those colourful little galaxies lurking about everywhere. Great to see fantastic work coming out of the new site :)

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Rod, me too. It's a nice place just to hang out too, I just posted some happy snaps from up there over the long weekend (in Canberra), in the DIY observatory forum :D

Mike

[Geoff45]

Nice one Mike.
The Arps are always worthwhile going for.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Geoff, I recall seeing Arps list many, many moons ago, 200" Hale B&W emulsion plate images, they were incredible, mystical and intriguing for a very young amateur astrophotographer, even complete with burned out cores :lol:... and thinking "imagine being able to capture some of those!"...how astrophotography has changed since then huh? I should do more...we all should do more of'em :)

Mike

[Geoff45]

Have you seen this book? Fascinating reading. Impossible to put down.https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CwVSYNenL._AC_.jpg

[strongmanmike]

No, looks good, love the colourful image on the front too, maybe a tad fluro..? :whistle: :P

Mike

[Stephane]

Mike, a gorgeous rendition of these galaxies. The detail is just next level. You must be thrilled to see everything coming together so nicely. Keep pumping out those images!

[strongmanmike]

Thanks very much Stephane :thumbsup:

Hey, it's no Hanson, Chart32 or Promper class image (ie truuuly next level..plus), who, incidentally, all use data, sometimes acquired commercially and all via remote robotic automated 20"-40" size scopes, operating at much finer image scales, located at sites with seeing regularly around twice as good as mine aaaand then use Blur EX on top of that, to simulate Hubble like atmospheric conditions! :eyepop: ..erer?..ok yes, I am jealous of course :mad2: :bashcomp:....buuuut hey, we work with what we have, I'm happy enough...for now :P :)

Mike

[Decimus]

Lovely image, Mike. Beautiful colour and an interesting field.:thumbsup:

Richard

[strongmanmike]

Thanks a lot Richard :thumbsup:

Mike