Ngc300

[richardo (Rich)]

Hi folks,
have put in almost 11 hours on this object battling pretty poor conditions over the last month to add to it.
Left out 2 hours of Ha that i took as I'd need heaps more and am ready for another object


The extra colour really made the difference.
But I think this really needs a larger aperture, or at least
20+ hours to start resolving the really faint stars within the arms.
If the weather allowed me to image night after night, would have kept on going with this.
But there are other galaxies in the area I want to get down as I haven't imaged them for a long while.

Here's my effort if you wish to have a look.
Direct link to the high res image.
http://www.baytop-observatory.com/ccdimages/galaxies/ngc300_newth16.htm

All the best
Rich

[Lester]

Very nice detailed image Rich. Thanks for the view.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yeh, excellent Richard, love all the interacting galaxies in the background too!

Not sure there is much colour in this galaxy anyway

Top effort dude

MIke

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

That's a very nice NGC 300 Rich. Have you considered blending in some Ha to bring out the H II regions?

Cheers

Steve

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Better than nearly all of the amateur images of NGC 300 that I have seen.

See the overluminous star cluster at the very centre of this galaxy?

Nuclear star clusters are similar to globular star clusters in their structure, but they often contain some stars of younger ages than globulars do....furthermore, they can be several mags more luminous than even the most luminous "old" globular star clusters.

I used to know how luminous the nuclear star cluster is, in this galaxy, but have forgotten it. It is one of the very best of these objects for observation, due to the cluster's high luminosity and the relative proximity of this galaxy.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

Very good, the color in the core with the hint or redness, contrasts so well to the blue arms. I'd have to agree it's one of the best I've seen. Usually it just doesn't have much more than a blue wash.
Extra hours are always going to give a better image, but after several nights it can wear a bit thin with the diminishing returns.

[RobF (Rob)]

That's just amazing Rich. Beautiful and inspiring image. The depth in the image showing so many other objects is breath-taking. Top shot!

[atalas]

Looks great.

[Ric]

A lovely image Rich.

Lots of detail and so much to see in this image.

[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

That's a magnificent image, Rich. So much fine detail in the spiral arms and the many tiny background galaxies have come out well. This tends to be the poor cousin of NGC 253 for photographers but it has a really beautiful classic shape as revealed here. Well done.

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by Lester

Very nice detailed image Rich. Thanks for the view.

Cheers for that Lester!
Would have loved for our E.P weather to hang in there for at least 3 nights but it's take it as it comes unfortunately.. at least we haven't seen the strong Sth-easterlies yet.. (hold my breath)

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yeh, excellent Richard, love all the interacting galaxies in the background too!

Not sure there is much colour in this galaxy anyway http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/..../shrugging.gif

Top effort dude

MIke

Hey Migel, thanks mate!
I like the way extra colour has really enriched these little galaxies.. the spiral up to the top R/H corner looks nice and the other interesting one just below it edge on also.
Yeah this galaxy is very mute colour wise.. I would say the blue wave length is its strongest judging by the individual channels.. red is quite faint to the outer arms

Originally Posted by Stevec35

That's a very nice NGC 300 Rich. Have you considered blending in some Ha to bring out the H II regions?

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve! I did do 2 hours worth, but the 7min subs really weren't doing a great deal for the little HII knots... I think at least twice this amount or go out to 10 min subs might have helped... or 2xs bin... I might get some more Ha when the moon comes around again.
I think this will be a good object to add to next year..

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Better than nearly all of the amateur images of NGC 300 that I have seen.

See the overluminous star cluster at the very centre of this galaxy?

Nuclear star clusters are similar to globular star clusters in their structure, but they often contain some stars of younger ages than globulars do....furthermore, they can be several mags more luminous than even the most luminous "old" globular star clusters.

I used to know how luminous the nuclear star cluster is, in this galaxy, but have forgotten it. It is one of the very best of these objects for observation, due to the cluster's high luminosity and the relative proximity of this galaxy.

Thanks very much Robert!
Yes very interesting stuff about the 'over luminous' cluster.... I can see what looks like a very faint cluster of stars in the nucleus, they look to be quite old with a few blues stars..??
I guess it would be a good object for Astronomers to study, there are many easily seen clusters that seem to fill up areas throughout the arms.

Originally Posted by Alchemy

Very good, the color in the core with the hint or redness, contrasts so well to the blue arms. I'd have to agree it's one of the best I've seen. Usually it just doesn't have much more than a blue wash.
Extra hours are always going to give a better image, but after several nights it can wear a bit thin with the diminishing returns.

Thanks Clive appreciate the comments!
My original work in progress showed little colour and had to be heavily saturated.. even then it was dominated by the blue channel.. but the extra time on colour helped heaps... no messing with colour as my weights seemed spot on..
Yep that's what I thought, after I added the extra lum.... there was little gain for the extra 3 hours.... it was a bit ho hum

Originally Posted by RobF

That's just amazing Rich. Beautiful and inspiring image. The depth in the image showing so many other objects is breath-taking. Top shot!

Thanks very much Rob for the great comments! I too like the assortment of differing galaxy types.. certainly a great area for the galaxy connoisseur

Originally Posted by atalas

Looks great.

Cheers Louie!!

Originally Posted by Ric

A lovely image Rich.

Lots of detail and so much to see in this image.

Hey Ric, thanks very much!

Originally Posted by Rigel003

That's a magnificent image, Rich. So much fine detail in the spiral arms and the many tiny background galaxies have come out well. This tends to be the poor cousin of NGC 253 for photographers but it has a really beautiful classic shape as revealed here. Well done.

Thanks heaps Graeme!
I agree with you about this galaxy... while N253 is large and bright, this is large and very faint... usually getting passed over for this reason.
A shame really as it is very delicate in its structure and has those wonderful cluster/ star burst areas.. the core isn't overly bright so we can peak into it probably better than most other galaxies.... the nucleus reminds me of M31 a lot for this reason.

Thanks very much guys for your great comments..
Always appreciated

All the best for now
Rich

[multiweb (Marc)]

Wow!. That's tops Rich! Great field. Love the colours and the interacting group at the top.

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Wow!. That's tops Rich! Great field. Love the colours and the interacting group at the top.

Thanks Marc!
It was a bit of a beggar to try and do some sort of justice to....
I think a 20" astro graph and a high desert location would really do the job..
We all need a sugar momma and a friend in the Andes

[sjastro]

Excellent image Rich.

Regards

Steven

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by richardo

We all need a sugar momma and a friend in the Andes

Short of that you can start buying lollies for Martin?

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Short of that you can start buying lollies for Martin?

That's a thought......
Ah Martin, you know how you've got that remote setup in Nth America, what about the same in Sth America.... I speak Spanish ok
LOL

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Rich,

you mention "a faint cluster of stars in the nucleus", but what I actually mean by the central Nuclear Star Cluster is the actual "star-like" object that is seen at the very centre of this galaxy.
(I believe that it is visible in your image)

This central "star" seen in this galaxy is actually the central Star Cluster, though this object is not actually the nucleus of this galaxy....... In recent years, the word "nucleus" has come to mean the tiny solar-system-sized body that is usually found at the very centre of a galaxy. (responsible for Seyfert activity, plasma jets, etc.)
(Neither is one of these nuclear star clusters an extended bulge; bulges are extended spheroidal structures of much greater spatial extent)

Here is part of a ground-based, B+V+R + H-alpha
image from ESO press release number eso0221 , showing the
central parts of NGC 300:




Here is a reduced-resolution version of an image from the Hubble Space Telescope and its ACS instrument, in three bands approximating photometric B and V and I.




As can be seen, the Very Evident central star cluster is still somewhat starlike, even with the Hubble Space Telescope.

[John Hothersall]

I am having a go at this but it is so faint I binned the colour and Ha so I hope the Luminance will get the fine detail you have got. This is a splendid galaxy and very close but so hard to see if I centred it in the CCD preview as it was so faint, it does have quite a bit of Ha.

John.

[gregbradley]

Another excellent image Rich. Nicely done.

Greg.

[richardo (Rich)]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Rich,

you mention "a faint cluster of stars in the nucleus", but what I actually mean by the central Nuclear Star Cluster is the actual "star-like" object that is seen at the very centre of this galaxy.
(I believe that it is visible in your image)

This central "star" seen in this galaxy is actually the central Star Cluster, though this object is not actually the nucleus of this galaxy....... In recent years, the word "nucleus" has come to mean the tiny solar-system-sized body that is usually found at the very centre of a galaxy. (responsible for Seyfert activity, plasma jets, etc.)
(Neither is one of these nuclear star clusters an extended bulge; bulges are extended spheroidal structures of much greater spatial extent)

As can be seen, the Very Evident central star cluster is still somewhat starlike, even with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Thanks Robert for clearing this up...
If I can't see it in an image it's hard to understand.
The Hubble image puts this all into context clearly.
So thanks for bringing this to our attention.
It's very interesting taking images but finding detailed information is even better as we are learning about the objects we turn our ccds to every year or there abouts.

Originally Posted by John Hothersall

I am having a go at this but it is so faint I binned the colour and Ha so I hope the Luminance will get the fine detail you have got. This is a splendid galaxy and very close but so hard to see if I centred it in the CCD preview as it was so faint, it does have quite a bit of Ha.

John.

Look forward to your version John. Binning is definitely the way to go with colour and Ha. When I bin I have some issues which is a gain adjustment I must do to my camera. Would have loved to have pulled in the HII knots just to finish it off.. but there you go...

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Another excellent image Rich. Nicely done.

Greg.

Thanks Greg!

And thanks all for your comments and input.

All the best
Rich