Hi All,
I actually only took this image as a fill-in during some early evenings while waiting for another target to rise. However, this galaxy turned to be surprisingly photogenic and the background is littered with distant galaxies and an incredible 14 quasars! From my location this galaxy now disappears behind a hill very early in the evening, so I'll have to return next year for more data because it definitely deserves it. In the meantime here is what I got so far.
Large image (75% scale, 1MB):
http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/144749889/original
Large image with 14 quasars marked (75% scale, 1MB):
http://upload.pbase.com/rolfolsen/im...49892/original
Image details:
Date: 17 June, 6th 7th 8th and 10th July 2012
Exposure: LRGB: 310:30:30:22.5m, total 6hrs 32.5mins @ -30C
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian f/5
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand
Here is a stretched view of the galaxy alone to illistrate what it might look like from above. It bears some resemblance to NGC 1365 in Fornax, but also contains what looks like an inner ring structure which is possibly caused by the two spiral arms being wound twice around the core:
http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/144781667/original
About the image:
NGC 5792 is a barred galaxy about 83 million light-years away in the constellation Libra. The bright red star at the lower edge of the galaxy is a red dwarf in our own Milky Way. This is in fact the most common type of star in the universe. The galaxy itself is fairly dim with an overall magnitude of 12.1. Since it is relatively large in size (6'.8 x 1'.7) the surface brightness is also low. The spiral arms that originate from the centre appears to almost form a continuous outer ring around the galaxy. This structure appears similar to that of NGC 1365 in Fornax, but is seen close to edge-on here. In the distant background behind NGC 5792 a wealth of faint galaxies dot the area and even 14 quasars lie within this narrow field of view.
Hope you enjoy. Personally I was pleasantly surprised by this galaxy. Comments and critique welcome as always.
Regards,
Rolf