At last, some clear sky. 36 hours exposure on the Grus spiral trio, over 4 consecutive nights, processed to show as many as possible of the myriad of background galaxies, many of whom, as the police would say, have form.
We counted some 273 definites. It's easy to spot even extraordinarily small and distant edge-on spirals because of their shape, easy to spot giant ellipticals because they are very red and fluffy. But smaller ellipticals are harder to tell from stars. Arguing statistically that they should outnumber the spirals, we think there could easily be several hundred smaller ellipticals and face-on spirals that are in the photo but unrecognized.
There are also a small number of Magellanic type galaxies in the shot that are very faint but identifiable because of their blue granular appearance.
Lum: 18 x 1 hour unbinned. RGB: each channel 6 x 1 hour unbinned. Field 36' arc across. (Thumbnail is a crop of about half that).
Aspen CG16M at -30C on 20" PlaneWave CDK on MI-750 mount. Scope and camera control software and image processing software written by Mike.
I usually find this trio of galaxies just a little lack lustre in images with very little visual difference between shots regardless of the instrument used....but yours is sen-bloody-sational beautiful and I recon pretty accurate colour too.
As you have pointed out, it's a great field for background galaxies this one, was fun having a good surf around, great delineation of the different galaxy morphologies and colours too, an image worthy of the calibre of equipment used (BTW I can juuust see the decon used in the two small galaxies but not so much in the big one )
I usually find this trio of galaxies just a little lack lustre in images with very little visual difference between shots regardless of the instrument used....but yours is sen-bloody-sational beautiful and I recon pretty accurate colour too.
As you have pointed out, it's a great field for background galaxies this one, was fun having a good surf around, great delineation of the different galaxy morphologies and colours too, an image worthy of the calibre of equipment used (BTW I can juuust see the decon used in the two small galaxies but not so much in the big one )
What's the red object in dead centre?
Great stuff
Mike
We're greatly encouraged by your comments, Mike. Thought you'd spot the decon. Its a fair cop, Gov. We're hoping that the red UFO in the direct centre is actually just the south galactic pole come adrift, or a loose reindeer nose, rather than yet another artifact. There's nothing at that spot in say the Capella Namibia shot, but ours seems deeper, so who knows.
We're greatly encouraged by your comments, Mike. Thought you'd spot the decon. Its a fair cop, Gov.
mate, you know me and decon , it's pretty hard to see but I knew you'd see the fun in it, it's a great image
Quote:
We're hoping that the red UFO in the direct centre is actually just the south galactic pole come adrift, or a loose reindeer nose, rather than yet another artifact. There's nothing at that spot in say the Capella Namibia shot, but ours seems deeper, so who knows.
Funny, it doesn't really look like an artefact huh?
That is just unreal, what an awesome image and so crisp and sharp, well done indeed.
Leon
Thanks, Leon, you are very kind.
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Originally Posted by DJT
Awesome image, MnT. An incredibly number of galaxies in the frame and the colour and processing is great.
Thanks, David! We'd done this one before with the old SBIG STL-11000M, and caught over a hundred galaxies, but they were mostly just hints and smudges. This time, with a newer camera and four times the exposure, we can see colour and detail in many more.
I tried having a go at this group a year or so ago with the 12. At the time it was still being tweaked but I did not get any where near the detail seen here. I really like the little clusters of galaxies up near the middle top of the image. There is a small ring of galaxies leading to an elliptical that looks fascinating. So many interesting shapes and so many galaxies. Very deep image.
Maybe take care of the star flare at the bottom right. There is some green there from the flare.
Wow, fantastic result. it is easy to focus on the wonderful work on the foreground but when you really concentrate on the smaller galaxies, it resembles the HDF
Thats jolly good guys, for a moment there I thought I was looking at the Hubble deep field!
Nice to see what you can do with your big 'scope on galaxies
That's great, a top image image. It makes one think that I must try a lot harder!
Well done
Thanks, Jeremy.
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Originally Posted by Paul Haese
I tried having a go at this group a year or so ago with the 12. At the time it was still being tweaked but I did not get any where near the detail seen here. I really like the little clusters of galaxies up near the middle top of the image. There is a small ring of galaxies leading to an elliptical that looks fascinating. So many interesting shapes and so many galaxies. Very deep image.
Maybe take care of the star flare at the bottom right. There is some green there from the flare.
All up though, well done Mike and Trish.
Many thanks, Paul. Inspired by your comments, we had a look for galaxy clusters, as opposed to individuals. Well worth while. There seem to be at least three, of which the top centre is the most grand.
We'll take some cosmetic peroxide to the bottom left corner, but I suspect our true weakness is dodgy flats. Must build a better diffuser.
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Originally Posted by Somnium
Wow, fantastic result. it is easy to focus on the wonderful work on the foreground but when you really concentrate on the smaller galaxies, it resembles the HDF
Thanks, Aidan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Well it puts my version in it's place. Great shot Mike and Trish!
Steve
Cheers, Steve!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Thats jolly good guys, for a moment there I thought I was looking at the Hubble deep field!
Nice to see what you can do with your big 'scope on galaxies
Just had another gander at this M&T and gee it's a cool image, love the background spread, so many galaxies, really good and great to search, well done again ...it has made me want to shoot another galaxy field now
As Mike, I've always felt the Grus trio never really caught my interest, but this image certainly puts that notion to rest! Awesome effort and a spectacular result. While the main galaxies are great, the highlight for me is the rich and varied shapes and colours of the distant background galaxies. It's a pleasure surfing around the full resolution image.
Regarding the red spot, it looks like it could be related to the red flare from the bottom right?
36 hours exposure on the Grus spiral trio, over 4 consecutive nights, processed to show as many as possible of the myriad of background galaxies, many of whom, as the police would say, have form.
beautiful and I recon pretty accurate colour too.
mate, you know me and decon 
, it's pretty hard to see but I knew you'd see the fun in it, it's a great image 
what an awesome image and so crisp and sharp, well done indeed. 
