At 200 Million Ltys distance this is rather old light collected here.
This was another test of the resolving power of the AG12 with its modest FL of 1120mm when coupled with the beaut little SX camera and OAG
The largest and brightest galaxy in the group is the big elliptical IC 4765 at 3.2' X 1.8' and Mag 12.4, all other galaxies are under 2' in size and most are less than 1' (luckily the seeing cooperated) and very faint Galactic Cirrus dust covers the whole field too
Stunning Mike, absolutely beautiful. I dream of capturing such images.
I might be wrong, but it looks to me like the limiting factor is not the resolution of the optics but the atmospherics. Makes me wonder how much close to the quality of the 2m you could come with tones more data.
Well done Mike,, stunning scene and great quality imaging.
Id have a go at this just to see if I could pick out the galaxy's from the stars, yep ! Interesting seeing in your Image such distant Galaxy's swarming in one area, very unique field all considered !
Always an amaizing hobby seeing this astro stuff.
I am very pleased to finally see a good image of this compact and galaxy-rich cluster. It is one of the least known galaxy clusters within a redshift of 5000 km/s, and there are at best only one or two papers written about it by the professional astronomers......probably on account of its southern position.
Yep, you have cracked a tough one here, given the small angular size of many of the galaxies.
I am glad you are imaging Pavo, as the very many fairly-bright galaxies in this constellation are probably the least known galaxies in the entire sky.
Note in particular the interesting morphology of IC 4767; these giant Boxy and Peanut-shaped bulges are quite common in clusters of galaxies but they are rare amongst the nearby galaxies. (won't find too many looking like this in the famous galaxy atlases)
Thanks for checking it out guys, glad you like lots of galaxies as much as I do
Always enjoy the mountain of info you have on galaxies Robert, thanks Yes I have imaged a few galaxy clusters now and I too noticed these peanut shaped galaxies, which you don't seem to see outside of a cluster environment...single ring yellow galaxies are common in there too
and Greg, the AG astrographs and I suspect all astrographs of this basic design, apart from heavy stiffening around the tube-focuser junction, definitely need OAG, particularly when using the big ProLine like cameras. I had differential flexure when I was using the ProLine meaning even exposures of just a few minutes showed diff flex. With the SX OAG now it is no longer a problem and I am now using exposures of 10min and could go longer but see no need. I always knew this (and could have improved my piggyback guide scope arrangement too!!!) but I just put up with it. Sometimes it takes a change to really realise just how bad it was
When I return to the using the Proline on the AG, or any other scope, I will be incorporating OAG in the train for sure.
Oh and remember, this image used no flats and no darks.
