Am I asking too much from our scopes?

[Aussie Pete]

G'day all,

Well, heres the thing. Before i launch myself into the swamp that is
Google. Can anyone tell me if any gravitational lenses or Einstein
rings are within reach of our telescopes? No im not kidding. I'd love
to get just a glimmer of one on a chip. Any thoughts?

Pete
Hopeful and foolish.

[Peter Ward]

Mag 22 should be do-able...I seem to recall S&T sending out a challenge
a while back. Anyone remember what issue?

[Aussie Pete]

Thanks Captain :)

Fancy running into you here.. hehe

Ok Mag 22.. But whats the designation??

Pete

[Peter Ward]

Pete...took me a short while. Mag 24.1 is possible. There is also a Canadian conspiracy happening here :) as names like Ceravolo and Boltwood came up in the May 1999 issue of S&T.

Paul Boltwood (yes, the cloud sensor guy) *made* a camera fitted with a front illuminated CCD and won the "deep-field challenge" back then.

Paul gave an excellent write up, and the results suggest with a modern back illuminated camera and dark skies Mag 26 may be possible.

Einstein rings! Pah! I laugh at you!

[acropolite]

OK I'll bite, or at least jump in to the swamp that is google.... This link (http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/phot-20-05.html)shows images of lensing in the Fornax region by the ESO VLT in Chile in 2005. According to the notes the minimum mag on the image was 26 but it doesn't state whether that is the magnitude of the lensing. Interesting concept though.

[Aussie Pete]

Thanks lads..

Geez thats one tiny and tough target..I need to find one a tad closer methinks.

Pete

[davidpretorius]

i managed to image the moon last night with my 10" mirror...........:rofl:

in all seriousness, i reckon it is a great question you have asked:thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Pete,

Just read the paper from Hubble's observation of the Einstein rings and they estimate a V magnitude of 22

A challenge, but not impossible :einstein:

[Terry B]

Depends what you want to see.
ESO 325-G004 (http://jumk.de/astronomie/galaxies/eso-325-g004.shtml) is allegedly a lensed galaxy.
see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207093405.htm
It is mag 14. It doesn't show any arcs however.
Here is an image of a lensed quasar by a very good amateur imager
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-QSO-0957+561.htm
I'm not sure what the mag of the brightest arc is.

[Aussie Pete]

Ok..thanks Terry/PW,

Well its a place to start looking. I want to find a candidate before the new moon rolls around. I'll be using G15 for an hour (10" RCOS/ST-8). That should give me something huh? I don't want pretty, just something! Thanks again for the clues and please let me know if you stumble across something juicy for me.

Pete

[Valmir]

I'm saving up for a meade EXT-125PE does anyone know if there good for viewing deep space objects nothing will tell me.:shrug:

[Terry B]

I had an ETX 90 years ago as my first propper scope. It was good for clusters and some galaxies realising that anything deep sky dimmer than mag ~10.5 was out of it's reach.
The 125 has a bit more light gather so should be OK.

[Valmir]

Thanks Mate:D