[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Yeah, galaxies with a lot of very luminous and massive stars forming, right now, or just in the past, are more likely to host young and massive star clusters that have a structure and appearance very similar to the canonical "old" globulars that we are very familiar with.
There do seem to be good numbers of these massive and young clusters within galaxies such as NGC 1313 and M83, but last I checked (about a year ago), there was little further confirmation of what exactly these objects are.

For all intents and purposes, these objects, for now, can be regarded as young globular star clusters, though they will eventually lose many of their stars with the passage of time.

The interstellar medium (e.g. molecular and atomic hydrogen gas) in those galaxies that currently have a high Star Formation Rate seems to undergo a whole lot of "shaking and stirring and pounding" from energetic events such as supernova shockwaves and the photon pressure emanating from massive stars. This produces extreme conditions that very occasionally lead to the formation of really massive and beautifully symettric star clusters.
(Last I checked, there was still no widely accepted theory as to how exactly these remarkable objects form!!)

Nuclear star clusters, which are - by definition - found at the centres of galaxies, may have a different history again, due to their peculiar position.

All interesting food for thought!

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Nice work Rich. I really like the field of view in this image. There a plenty of other galaxies to look at in the field. The main subject is really well exposed and like others have said a good example of this galaxy. Finding the time to finish it could be tricky now with all this unpredictable weather.

Thanks very much Paul!
Yes this weather has been a bit all over the shop.
Have had high faint cloud here for the last couple of days... certainly doesn't help when trying to achieve decent focus.

Originally Posted by SkyViking

What an amazing view. This is a beautiful image and I really like the subtle processing. Also, the background is just full of action too, all those faint distorted and interacting galaxies are really putting on a show for us. Great work, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comments Rolf.. I always liked this galaxy for its delicateness but only ever imaged it once before. It was interesting to see how much effect more time would make...
I'll be prepared next time around and hopefully I'll have a full run at it weather wise.

Thanks again chaps for your comments.

All the best
Rich