NGC 1097 with jets

[rmuhlack]

NGC1097 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Fornax, about 45 million light years distant.

NGC1097 is also a Seyfert galaxy - with a quasar like nuclei with very high surface brightness. This particular galaxy also has four optical jets that emanate from that nucleus. The largest of these jets was studied way back in 1984 by Carter, Allen and Malin (yes, that Malin) using the Anglo-Australian Telescope. They measured the surface brightness of the broad "dog-leg jet" at 26.95 mag arcsec^-2 at 450nm, and 26.4 mag arcsec^-2 at 700nm. Remarkably, these faint features can now be readily detected using humble backyard amateur equipment.

My rendition of this target is comprised of 185x3min sub exposures captured across 10-17th Oct 2023 using a Sharpstar 13028HNT, QHY533C with Optolong UV-IR filter, and HEQ5 mount. I have included the full field of view, a closer crop (plus an inverted version), and for lols a comparison between my image and that of the AAT.

Astrobin version here: https://www.astrobin.com/58z57h/

Ref: Carter, D., Allen, D. A., & Malin, D. F. (1984). The jets in NGC 1097. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 211(3), 707-712. https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/211/3/707/981522

[Tinderboxsky]

Fabulous images and information, Richard.

When did you collect the data for this image? I think you may have captured the recent supernova 2023RVE in this galaxy. The supernova was discovered 8th September, this year and appears to be hiding in plain sight in your image.

I am not sure how to annotate a copy of your image. So, I have added a simple, recent EAA live stack (40 X 15 second exposures) I compiled in order to observe this supernova.

Steve.

[rmuhlack]

thanks Steve. Image data collected 10 to 17th Oct 2023 (I've now updated my original post to include this information).

My main objective with this latest effort was to reveal those jets (as i'm now using a much faster scope than I used previously as well as a dedicated cooled astro camera instead of a DSLR), and to be honest hadn't really thought about the SN as I had assumed that it had already died out. However now comparing my image here with the last time I imaged this target (Aug-Sept 2014, https://www.astrobin.com/123464/B/) the recent SN is indeed quite obvious.

[TrevorW]

Nice shot :)