NGC1316, NGC1317, NGC1310 and NGC1326

[Paul Haese]

This is a wide field image of the field around NGC1316. The wide field data was 52 hours and I used the narrow field data of NGC1316 narrow field to give a detail boost to the two main galaxies. Total data used was 70 hours.

Some really interesting things can be seen in the image. There is a faint stream off to the left of NGC1316. I am estimating that the stream goes for about the radius distance of NGC1316. Then NGC1326 seems like a ring galaxy but is in fact a face on spiral galaxy. Some really faint detail can be seen on the outer verges of the outer ring and halo. I might actually image that galaxy next year to grab the detail for it. NGC1326A and NGC1326A are also interacting galaxies and are also quite interesting peruse. It looks like there is some star burst activity going on as a result of the merger between each galaxy.
Finally, the whole field is scattered with lots of background galaxies of various types.

I am not sure of the depth of the image, however there are a lot of galaxies seen in the distance that are great than the mag 18.55 listed on my SkyX. I would be interested in anyone's thoughts on what magnitude is visible in the image.

Click here for larger resolution image.

[DJT (David)]

Hi Paul

That's a very nice image. The detail on the interacting galaxies is excellent,specifically the core of the main object, and again, not something that comes up that often.



Top job.

[oernulfs (Ørnulf)]

Impressive!! 70hrs, that is not during one season?

[Atmos (Colin)]

That's wonderful Paul, such an interesting galaxy field, nicely processed

[Shiraz (Ray)]

lovely work Paul - difficult region beautifully rendered.

Made a few assumptions and calculated the depth to be in the region of 26.1 Vmag/arcsec2 (5 sigma), so it is getting down to the level where the skirts from the brightest stars are starting to be a limiting factor - impressive.

[Flugel88 (Michael)]

Amazing image Paul the depth looks infinite!
I have never seen detail in NGC 1317 like that before amazing.

[el_draco (Rom)]

What a cracker! All those deep galaxies are great but the core detail in the larger galaxies is crisp as well. Beautiful!

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

You've captured a tidal tail from the Big One extending like a scorpion's sting all the way to the left hand edge of the field. Amazing.

[gregbradley]

That's a terrific image. NGC1316 is one of the more interesting galaxies in the southern hemisphere and well worth the effort of time on it.

Was this with the FSQ?

Greg.

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

That's an amazing and varied field Paul and you've captured the details and colour really well. The Saturn clone looks very interesting.
Geoff

[Paul Haese]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment.

Originally Posted by oernulfs

Impressive!! 70hrs, that is not during one season?

Thanks Ornulf. Yes all this data was collected this last season. It's not the largest amount of data I have collected in a single season on a single target. I collected over 111 hours on the Helix in 2015, so this is possible.

Originally Posted by Shiraz

lovely work Paul - difficult region beautifully rendered.

Made a few assumptions and calculated the depth to be in the region of 26.1 Vmag/arcsec2 (5 sigma), so it is getting down to the level where the skirts from the brightest stars are starting to be a limiting factor - impressive.

Thanks Ray, wow that is getting down. I figured in my head it would be around mag 22-24. Might be diminishing returns from here on in if I collected more, though that tidal stream off to the left might be nice to get it brighter yet.

Originally Posted by Flugel88

Amazing image Paul the depth looks infinite!
I have never seen detail in NGC 1317 like that before amazing.

Thanks Michael, there are not many images with that detail present, though Rolf produced one last year of the same target with that sort of detail. Being able to use the RC data gave me a huge resolution boost on those galaxy cores.

Originally Posted by Placidus

You've captured a tidal tail from the Big One extending like a scorpion's sting all the way to the left hand edge of the field. Amazing.

Thanks MnT. That tidal tail started out as a faint smudge several months back. A friend had imaged the same target a few years back and his image showed it and we discussed its presence. My objective was to go very deep and capture the back ground galaxies and as a happy circumstance the tidal tail just got brighter and brighter.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That's a terrific image. NGC1316 is one of the more interesting galaxies in the southern hemisphere and well worth the effort of time on it.

Was this with the FSQ?

Greg.

Thanks Greg, Yep this is the FSQ and I used the RC data to give more detail to the cores of the two main galaxies.

I agree it is a very interesting galaxy. I would have preferred a better composition on the RC image, and will attempt this next year. With any luck there will be a flattener available then and I might have a 16" scope.

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

Hey Paul, was wondering where you'd been!!
A great vista as always . Impressive!!
Graham

[Ryderscope (Rodney)]

Stunning. Reminds me of the Hubble deep field image.

[atalas]

Fantastic Paul

[RickS (Rick)]

Very deep, Paul, and chokkers with interesting objects.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Chaps for the comments and compliments.