Beautiful Globular and some dancing galaxies

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

My trip to Wiruna (dark sky site of ASNSW) this past weekend started out bad with two days in a row cloudy and/or raining so no marathon deep image this time. Luckily the third and my last night was clear and cold so I used it to full advantage going through till dawn and enduring chilly sub zero temps.

I managed two images altogether and here is the first one:

This image is of the often overlooked but probably the third best globular cluster in the Sky (its slightly brighter than M13) located in Pavo - NGC 6752. To add some interest I have framed it to also encompass the much more distant interacting galaxy group of NGC 6769, 6770 & 6771.

The difference in distance is enormous with the globular a mere 14 thousand Ltyrs away while the galaxy group is a wopping 190 million Ltyrs distant!

The following is a link to a full frame image (1.7meg) but of modest dimensions so it will fit on most screens, so to fully appreciate the vista please use the links "under" the image/s (don't click on the image/s) to view the much larger full frame version as well as some close-ups of the galaxy group and globular cluster.

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...44073/original

Hope you enjoy

Mike

[beren]

Simply awesome Mike

[glenc (Glen)]

Wow

[iceman (Mike)]

Wow, now that is very special. Great job Mike!

[Garyh]

Very nice Mike! Nicely framed. Boy that chip sure hogs alot of sky in one hit! Never new about that interacting group of galaxies....
cheers Gary

[CoombellKid]

Very nice!!! well done Mike

regards,CS

[theodog (Jeff)]

Great image Mike.
Plenty of detail and nicely framed.
Well done.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

An outstanding image Mike! Great composition, the juxtaposition of near and far is captivating. Excellent detail, even in the distant galaxies - the seeing must have been great! Top marks for your commitment as well, a night at Wiruna in winter needs the right stuff!

Cheers, Marcus

[Deeno]

Absolutly stunning!!!!!

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Excellent Mike, pin sharp and sooo many galaxies in one frame.

[AlexN]

Lovely composition and coloring... a top shot indeed.... (tis now my desktop background )

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

what can i say? the master does it again!! beautiful and very stunning image. i quite like this.

[Ian Robinson]

Wow !

[bluescope]

Excellent image with such depth and clarity, the FLI 11002 has amazing resolution coupled with the Starfire 152 APO ..... those distant galaxies have such detail ..... ofcourse the cold dark skies contribute to the magic as well ..... well done Mike ..... your effort was well rewarded.

[jase (Jason)]

Mike, really enjoy the peculiar composition of this image – something often overlooked. Galaxies look great showing subtle hints of structure in their arms providing an extra dimension of depth. Clean, with good histogram control. Well done.

[tornado33]

Execellent work, the fainter stars are so tiny.
Scott

[Striker (Tony)]

Wow thats real nice,

Mike have you got some links to your set up your currently using, last I was here you were still waiting for both your scope and camera.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments, when people appreciate your efforts the cold sleepless night is worth it

Originally Posted by Garyh

Very nice Mike! Nicely framed. Boy that chip sure hogs alot of sky in one hit! Never new about that interacting group of galaxies....
cheers Gary

Thanks Gary

The FOV provided by the PL11002 on the Starfire is 1.8deg X 1.2deg at an image scale of 1.6"/pix so just about ideal really..?

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

An outstanding image Mike! Great composition, the juxtaposition of near and far is captivating. Excellent detail, even in the distant galaxies - the seeing must have been great! Top marks for your commitment as well, a night at Wiruna in winter needs the right stuff!

Cheers, Marcus

Thanks Markus!

The seeing was good but I've seen better, the high level of detail is also from the superb optics I think? Yes it was cold with a blanket of ice over everything when I was packing up at 6am.

I had mulled over my image target possibilities for a couple of days before going up to Wiruna but as the weather didn't cooperate for the first two days my target list changed and then changed again . This framing was something I was wanting to do and given I felt I could get it in a relatively short exposure I went for it. I am quite happy with how it turned out

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Excellent Mike, pin sharp and sooo many galaxies in one frame.

Cheers Fred but I am sure it wont appear on APOD

Pin sharp huh? Ah that's that woosey wide field for ya no megga data either sorry

Originally Posted by AlexN

Lovely composition and coloring... a top shot indeed.... (tis now my desktop background )

Funnily enough Alex....mine too

Originally Posted by bluescope

Excellent image with such depth and clarity, the FLI 11002 has amazing resolution coupled with the Starfire 152 APO ..... those distant galaxies have such detail ..... ofcourse the cold dark skies contribute to the magic as well ..... well done Mike ..... your effort was well rewarded.

Thanks Bluey

Yes the FOV and image scale provided by the Starfire and PL11002 is just about the perfect allround figure IMO.?

Originally Posted by jase

Mike, really enjoy the peculiar composition of this image – something often overlooked. Galaxies look great showing subtle hints of structure in their arms providing an extra dimension of depth. Clean, with good histogram control. Well done.

Glad it met with your high standards Jase . At just 2' in size I was glad the detail showed up in the smaller galaxies they look like they are floating in space having a wrestle. How you going with your rent-a-scope imaging then? One day I'll try that.

Originally Posted by Striker

Wow thats real nice,

Mike have you got some links to your set up your currently using, last I was here you were still waiting for both your scope and camera.

Thanks Tony

And yes...they are under the image

Mike