Lots of tiny tarantulas: NGC 300 in H-alpha

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

NGC 300 in H-alpha, taken over two nights of the new moon.

A slightly reduced (70% full pixel size) original version here.

Remember reading a wise guru explaining patiently how those using narrowband filters on a galaxy should be sent to re-education camp?

13 off 1hr subs, 2x2 binned. (Unbinned, you don't see so much).

The sheer giga-tonnage of star-forming activity shows up the spiral arms quite spectacularly. Lots of little Tarantula's and Eta Carinae nebs and M42's, all wanting to scuttle off the page.

It is 6 million light years away. Even after 13 hours, the image is still appallingly gritty, but more hours will have to await next new moon, or next year, so we thought we'd show what we have.

Here we've dropped the H-alpha in as red the top of the LRGB version.


Best,
Mike and Trish

[Andy01 (Andy)]

That's sooooo coool as in sub zero antarctic cool.
Like a new art form in itself, I love it

Well done for out of the box thinking too

[el_draco (Rom)]

What a GREAT shot. Imagine the night sky with that little beauty above you...

[codemonkey (Lee)]

That's awesome guys. Goddamnit, I'm almost tempted to go for some Ha on this one now... and I was getting sick of looking at it too :p

[Somnium (Aidan)]

wow, how fascinating, it really demonstrates the fact that different filters show up specific regions and activities within an object. i dont think this is the result that the average man on the street would think you would get by looking at a galaxy in a 3-5nm wavelength in the red.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Originally Posted by Andy01

That's sooooo coool as in sub zero antarctic cool.
Like a new art form in itself, I love it

Well done for out of the box thinking too

Thanks so much, Andy. Sadly can't take credit for being too original. We did do a shot of Barnard's Galaxy in H-alpha a long time ago, so had some idea what to expect, but this time we had seen the ESO H-alpha shot.

Originally Posted by el_draco

What a GREAT shot. Imagine the night sky with that little beauty above you...

Cheers, Rom!

Originally Posted by codemonkey

That's awesome guys. Goddamnit, I'm almost tempted to go for some Ha on this one now... and I was getting sick of looking at it too :p

Thanks, Lee!

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Originally Posted by Somnium

wow, how fascinating, it really demonstrates the fact that different filters show up specific regions and activities within an object. i dont think this is the result that the average man on the street would think you would get by looking at a galaxy in a 3-5nm wavelength in the red.

Thanks muchly, Aidan.

[RickS (Rick)]

Looks even more like M33 in Ha than it does in RGB, M&T Thanks for the interesting view.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Atmos (Colin)]

That is a fascinating shot! Certainly looks like there are a considerable number of star forming regions in that galaxy.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yes, a very cool thing to do guys and looks quite dramatic. I recall seeing another amateur do this in the past but I can't recall who or when

Mike

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Here we've dropped the H-alpha shot over the top of the LRGB shot, mapping H-alpha to red. There's a total exposure of 35 hours now.

Originally Posted by RickS

Looks even more like M33 in Ha than it does in RGB, M&T Thanks for the interesting view.

Cheers,
Rick.

Thanks, Rick! So it really is the proper southern pinwheel.

Originally Posted by Atmos

That is a fascinating shot! Certainly looks like there are a considerable number of star forming regions in that galaxy.

Thanks Colin

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yes, a very cool thing to do guys and looks quite dramatic. I recall seeing another amateur do this in the past but I can't recall who or when

Mike

Cheers, Mike!

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Although not quuuite the barrage seen of NGC 253 images NGC 300 is still a popular target, so it has to look really good or a bit different to elicit more than "nice image" or just "nice" ...in this case it is both really good and different, so...umm?...nice image!

Mike

[alpal]

Hi Mike and Trish,
what an amazing image - NGC 300 in Ha.
I've never seen that before &
1 hour subs binned 2x2 !!!
You are giving me ideas.

cheers
Allan

[DJT (David)]

Well that was interesting, MnT. Introduced Bias!

I looked at the Ha first then at the LRgb combined with the Ha data and you are immediately aware of the structures of those star forming regions in the very fine LHaRGB image.

Usually when I look at an Galaxy image with added Ha, I don't pick up on just what an impact it has to the overall image. So I'll be paying more attention in the future.

great idea to show both images.

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Although not quuuite the barrage seen of NGC 253 images NGC 300 is still a popular target, so it has to look really good or a bit different to elicit more than "nice image" or just "nice" ...in this case it is both really good and different, so...umm?...nice image!

Mike

Thanks, Mike. I think I'm working out that for a well-imaged object, "nice" might mean a gold star and a koala stamp.

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Mike and Trish,
what an amazing image - NGC 300 in Ha.
I've never seen that before &
1 hour subs binned 2x2 !!!
You are giving me ideas.

cheers
Allan

Thanks, Allan. For really faint stuff, a dark site, ultra-long subs, and 2x2 binning are the way to go.

Originally Posted by DJT

Well that was interesting, MnT. Introduced Bias!

I looked at the Ha first then at the LRgb combined with the Ha data and you are immediately aware of the structures of those star forming regions in the very fine LHaRGB image.

Usually when I look at an Galaxy image with added Ha, I don't pick up on just what an impact it has to the overall image. So I'll be paying more attention in the future.

great idea to show both images.

Cheers, David. Glad you like it and had fun comparing.

Best,
Mike

[andyc (Andy)]

Have a gold star and a koala stamp from me! It's pretty cool to see a galaxy like this imaged a little differently, and just to see how many of the bright knots are associated with big nebulae. Thanks for posting!

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

Originally Posted by andyc

Have a gold star and a koala stamp from me! It's pretty cool to see a galaxy like this imaged a little differently, and just to see how many of the bright knots are associated with big nebulae. Thanks for posting!

Thanks, Andy, that's encouraging. For me, the straight H-alpha reveals amazing secrets, but because I'm colour blind and can't see red, the version with the H-alpha dropped in as red over the top of the RGB shot is disappointing. I've written myself a little program to swap the red and blue channels, so I can see these infernal HII regions, not just on our images, but on other peoples shots too.

Best,
Mike

[gregbradley]

That looks fantastic. The knots of Ha areas in that galaxy are amazing.

It really adds to the colour image as well. Love it.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

The Ha image alone is very interesting MnT. The colouring with the addition of the Ha is dramatic and seems pretty seamless.

[croweater (Richard)]

]Great stuff Mike and Trish. There is a interesting ring of neb at top and a little right of centre of the galaxy that keeps grabbing my attention. Good comparing between both images. Cheers, Richard