Interacting Galaxy System NGC 7714 - 7715

[TR]

This was an interesting dataset to work with. The obvious elephant in the room is that honking bright star (16 Psc Mag 5.68) swamping the distant galaxies. How could I present this wonderful pair of interacting galaxies that would do them justice? First, suppressing that glow from that bright star. Next, I wanted to retain the context of the galaxy pair floating against the backdrop of tiny galaxies and stars. The frame looks so cool; I wanted to keep this. Ultimately, I kept most of the frame and created an overlay highlighting the galaxy pair and their interactions by performing a simple interpolation upscaling.

This dramatic encounter has left a H I bridge (stellar bridge) between the pair. NGC 7714 is located about 130 million light years away. It is the larger galaxy and has been stretched and distorted during its encounter with NGC 7715 (the lower, thin drawn-out galaxy). The most prominent feature is the golden-coloured ring-like structure. This comprises older intermediate-mass stars, very much like our own sun. Another feature to are the two bright blue tails, or horn-like structures. Bright blue areas in galaxies strongly suggest that ongoing star formation is happening in this region.

NCC 7715 is thought to have plunged through NGC 7714. The interaction between the pair likely started 150 million years ago and should continue for several hundred million years more. It may result in a single central galaxy.I love how varied these interacting galaxies are.

If your interested in some more information have a quick look at:

https://science.nasa.gov/ngc-7714-starburst-after-galaxy-collision

Instruments Used:

10 Inch RCOS fl 9.1
Astro Physics AP-900 Mount
SBIG STL 11000m
FLI Filter Wheel
Astrodon Lum, Red, Green, Blue Filters


Exposure Details:


Lum 42X600 Bin1
Red 7X450 Bin2
Green 19X450 Bin2
Blue 16X450 Bin2

Total Time: ~16 Hours

Link to high res:
Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/6k2r7u/)

Thanks for looking

[strongmanmike]

Lovely looking galaxy image Terry, the bright star really sets the scene I recon, gives the impression the stretchy galaxies are a long way off :thumbsup:

Was only looking at this as an imaging option quite recently, might not bother now and live vicariously through your version :D

Mike

[TR]

Thanks Mike. All this interesting stuff is so small. That star was a @@#$!! to deal with. That was as far as I could reduce the halo without wacky effects becoming to distracting from that saturated star. I do like all the tiny galaxies in the frame, another reason I wanted to keep the larger view.

Regards

[petershah]

Beautiful control on 16 Psc, stunning work

[TR]

Thanks Peter. That is such a bright guy to deal with. The galactic planning committee messed up :P

Regards,

[Andy01]

That's truly a magnificent 3D vista Terry. :thumbsup:

You've managed to highlight the hero and tell that story well, and the bright star contrasted against so many infinite teeny tiny galaxies adds a sense of scale & depth unsurpassed in many other images on these forums.

Definitely, one destined for the pool room. :D

[Dave882]

Wonderful shot. I really feel that the bright star adds to the overall impact of the image, and as Andy said the sense of depth is amazing. Beautiful!!

[Peter Ward]

There is much I find delightful about this image....

but :question: not sure it needed the overlay and a smidge tighter field of view gives it more punch.

These are minor quibbles at best.....it's a top-shelf image by any measure :thumbsup:

[TR]

Thanks Andy. Presentation is always a difficult call. Everything in the field is small. It was an attempt to highlight the galaxy pair and to retain all those wonderful galaxies as well.


Cheers Dave. Man that star was evil. In the original master lum all I could see was this massive bright glow. This was a little dishearting when I looked at my starting position. That was as far as I could go without that part of the image falling apart.


Thank you Peter. That overlay is for my tired blind eyes:thumbs-up: I could crop out all those far-off treasures. But, it would be "Terry, the destroyer of galaxies...." I couldn't live with such a label after wiping out all those innocent galaxies.
Cheers

[strongmanmike]

Paul Haese did a similarly good job on this blighter (https://paulhaese.net/NGC7213.html) and it too looks pretty cool, I imagine his raw Lum must have looked quite daunting too :eyepop:...sigh, all makes me wanna do a galaxy near a bright star myself now :question: :)

Mike

[TR]

Go for it Mike. It's a great exercise, a little hard on the eyes :lol:. I did this guy with my training wheels on
https://www.astrobin.com/aq2fl2/ before that NGC7714-7715 pair.

Who gives the rubber stamp to OK the placement of these bright stars in front of these wonderful objects?:question: