M65 and M66

[allan gould]

Over the last few nights I've been trying to image these two galaxies with my 10"GSO RC and QSI583 camera. What a trial. The meade DSI II Pro guider suddenly threw a brain f@rt and couldn't tell what sort of chip it had and gave me the venetian blind screen of death. After finally finding the dialogue to resend to the camera it finally came back from the dead. Its now called Lazarus!!
I finally managed to get 4hr of Lum and 40 min each of RGB in 10 min subs and had a go at putting it all together. I usually use my QHY10 to get colour but that had a blown peltier and earned a 2 week vacation in China for a transplant. Neighbours on each side of me decided to contribute to the Festival of Light for April fools day and for the nights leading up to it. Maybe the new carbon tax will get them to use their searchlights less often.
Anyway for what its worth here is the image and comments welcomed.
Ive lost star colour along the way but I think that was from gradient and light pollution removal.

[Paul Haese]

Saturation aside this is a very good image. Heaps of really nice detail to view, nice smooth processing and overall looking really nice. Get that saturation back and you are in business.

[PeterM]

Oh wow Allan how appealing is that to look at. Splendid indeed!
Ok, so I am biased toward galaxies....
Peter

[peter_4059]

Nice detail in the galaxies Allan.

[RickS]

A nice result from trying circumstances, Allan!

[DavidTrap]

Very nice. Is that with the reducer?

DT

[allan gould]

Paul and Peter x2
Thanks for the comments as they are appreciated. I think I'm going to do another run on this image with the qhy10 camera when it's fixed and really get some decent colour in the stars as that's what is flattening the image.

[allan gould]

Thanks for the nice comments Rick and David, but you both know what Brisbane has been like lately and we take whatever we get and when we get it.
David, it's a full frame from the QSI just slightly cropped due to differences in the images from meridian flips - and no reducer on the scope so it should be the same field/focal length as your VC200L.

[Rigel003]

After that disaster story I was expecting the worst but this is a great image. Lots of detail and smooth rendering. Love to see what you can produce on a good night with more cooperative neighbours.

[Ross G]

A beautiful galaxy photo Allan.

Ross.

[CoolhandJo]

Wonderful detail!

[DavidTrap]

Thanks Alan for the info - I'll get the VC200L onto my mount one day soon!

DT

[Lester]

Very nice view Alan, thanks.

[allan gould]

One can but live in hope! But thanks for the comments. I had to replace my desktop recently because that also died and I forgot to calibrate the monitor and on viewing the post on mu IPad I noticed that its far too dark, si Ive posted a slightly retouched image.

Thanks Ross, much appreciated

Thanks again, Paul.

Actually I now appreciate what a great scope the VC200L is - if you ever decide to pass it on, I'm just down the road and want first dibs.

Thanks Lester - it just goes to show you can image from the suburbs despite the light pollution.

[Lester]

In that case Alan, its even better than I thought. Although your location is Brisbane, I would have thought you had travelled out of town for such a shot.

All the best.

[allan gould]

I think that 10 min subs from my location (4.5km from the CBD) is the max I can do and at that I'm just starting to get the extensions to M65 but it's a real push. Haven't been to a dark site since Astrofest last year :sadeyes:

[strongmanmike]

Missed this one mate :ashamed: Great shot Al :thumbsup:, the repro looks better too amazing for being in a big city.

Mike

[allan gould]

Thanks for that Mike, a Sidonio is always well worth doing.

[gregbradley]

That's a great shot. Its a bit dark so I'd recommend boosting the curves a bit as it looks like it will hold up under a bit more of that.

Greg.

[peter_4059]

The repro looks better Allan.

[allan gould]

Greg
Thats why I posted the repro as I hadn't calibrated the monitor on my new PC and it was too dark.
Its adjusted now and its about right according to the Spyder 3 callibration.


Thanks Peter.... Im going to have to have a go at Pempro :P.
I converted all of the help files to a PDF if you want it.

[marc4darkskies]

Ah yes! Lovely! :thumbsup: The repro worked a treat Allan - great image!!

Cheers, Marcus

[multiweb]

Wow! Very nice Allan. Well done. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[allan gould]

From the two of you thats praise indeed. I'm trying to get a decent image of the third galaxy in the triplette so that I can make a mosaic at his resolution but of course the moon is blazing away so I may have to wait a few weeks until that happens. But being realistic that means the rain and cloud will come back.

[prokyon]

The repro is awesome! :eyepop:

[allan gould]

Werner, thanks for your comment. I had a look at your site and love your photos but also the mount you have your Gemini on. It looks very nice.

[gregbradley]

That looks good Allan.

You got a lot of detail there.

Greg.

[Regulus]

I really like that photo just as it is.
Well done.

[SkyViking]

Mmmmm nice galaxies there, a really beautiful image. I have fond memories of M65, it was the first galaxy I did a proper long exposure of after I got my G11.

[allan gould]

Thanks Trevor, just glad you liked it


Again, thanks for the comments Rolf. Id love to get more data on these galaxies but that will have to wait until the moon goes and my QHY10 comes back from repairs. It funny how each person has a different galaxy favorite. Mine is M83 and NGC5128 and M104 and NGC4945 ... and .... etc

[Stevec35]

Looks a bit dark but a very nice image nevertheless with good detail.

Cheers

Steve

[astronobob]

Farr Ouut, Looking magnificent, so smooth, such detail , ,
Envy ! !

[TrevorW]

Come it late on this one, nicely done

Cheers

[allan gould]

Thanks Steve. My first post was dark as I had not re-calibrated my screen. The Sidonio corrected that but obviously every one has different settings.

Thanks for the comments, Bob. Have a good Easter


Thanks for looking and commenting Steve. Its nice to hear what others think.

[alan meehan]

Sorry AL missed this one ,you have got some nice detail in these galaxies damn shame you have to put with so much light pollution
well done
AL

[allan gould]

I have light pollution and you have Houghy. We all have a cross to bear :lol:

[TheDecepticon]

Apart from the green stars, the galaxies are awesome, some great detail going on there! :)

[allan gould]

Thanks Graham for the comment. I cant see green stars but my eyes arn't what they used to be.
Allan

[madbadgalaxyman]

I am always happy to see another image of M66.

The complex morphology of this galaxy teeters on the
edge between normality and peculiarity e.g. the arm asymmetry between the two main arms is at the upper end of normal for a non-dwarf barred spiral galaxy, but the broader and much more chaotic arm shows highly unusual dust lanes at its faint end...... when it is imaged deeper than in your image.

There is also a Very Faint outermost "arm" that is seen in very deep exposures, an arm or tidal feature which has no counterpart on the other side of the galaxy, and which provides some evidence for a past interaction with N3628.

There is also a very unusual spur that sticks out of the main large-scale bar, beginning at right angles to the main bar.
This is extremely obvious in your image. Another interesting aspect of this spur is that it is very different in colour from the surrounding material.

cheers,
madbadgalaxyman

Nearly all barred spirals are "perturbed" in appearance, and arm asymmetry is the rule rather than the exception; it is just a matter of assessing the degree of perturbation in this galaxy.