I discovered a galaxy - really! :-) - Page 2

OICURMT · #21 22-12-2015, 10:32 AM

Just read the paper...

It's a great read and a good contribution to the scientific community. The fact that they suggest using small scopes to find more faint satellites and streams in the context of resolving "tensions" in the standard model speak to the importance of your contribution.

Best lines in the paper are (paraphrased):

Quote:

One valuable, alternative route to ﬁnding faint satellites and streams around nearby galaxies is through using small aperture (10–50 cm) telescopes in combination with the latest generation of commercial CCD cameras.

Quote:

The short focal ratios of these telescopes, along with the use of single, photographic-ﬁlm size CCDs, allow them to probe large areas of galaxy haloes while reaching surface brightness levels ~2–3 magnitudes deeper than the classic photographic plate surveys (e.g. Palomar Observatory Sky Survey) and the available large-scale digital surveys (e.g. SDSS).

Which fully support the quote…

Quote:

We also note the continued efficacy of small telescopes for making big discoveries.

Congrats Mike on a great win for yourself and making "amateur's" look like professionals.

OIC!

Renato1 (Renato) · #22 22-12-2015, 10:33 AM

Remarkable!
I really like it. Congratulations.
Regards,
Renato

peter_4059 (Peter) · #23 22-12-2015, 10:40 AM

Congratulations Mike.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #24 22-12-2015, 11:33 AM

Thanks all for the nice feedback, not quite a double impact on Jupiter ala Bird

....but as I said, things like this don't happen every day for us amateurs

Ric, yes the fire was within 2km of my observatory but was contained and extinguished. It is an on going concern for me given the area I am in. I try and keep the long grass mowed very low for at least 15m all around the observatory and the rest is up to insurance, which I have plenty of.

I agree with your highlighted points OIC.

There was some discussion on what to name this galaxy for the press release... so will have to wait and see

Thanks again everyone

Mike

alocky (Andrew lockwood) · #25 22-12-2015, 11:38 AM

This is an inspirational achievement! Although in principle, Mike has proved that an 'amateur' system is capable of advancing science, just as the BOSS guys are doing, I'm pretty sure that amount of hard work and perseverance that goes into something like this has been considerably understated!
Congratulations again. You just reminded me why I bother!
Cheers,
Andrew.

rogerg (Roger) · #26 22-12-2015, 11:44 AM

That is absolutely awesome Mike!! So much better than discovering a minor planet or comet

Wow, what a career achievement! ... and shows what is still possible if only we try.

Great story to take as a talk to highschool students and the like.

DavidU (Dave) · #27 22-12-2015, 12:41 PM

Awesome work there Mike !!! Congrats

glenc (Glen) · #28 22-12-2015, 01:14 PM

Wow. Congratulations Mike.

Rob_K · #29 22-12-2015, 01:15 PM

Fantastic Mike, congratulations!

Cheers -

RB (Andrew) · #30 22-12-2015, 01:22 PM

How cool is THAT !!!
Congratulations mate, well done !

RB

gary · #31 22-12-2015, 02:04 PM

Great stuff Mike!

So browsing the paper, it seems remarkable that Sand et. al, who they
reference, missed it when they discovered what they dubbed Scl-MM-Dw1
in 2014.

See http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.6687

Given they were presumably looking hard for dwarf galaxies outside of
the Local Group to try and solve the "missing satellite problem" it seems
to say a lot about how tenuous and difficult to spot they are given
the current observed discrepancy of their numbers is out by a factor
of "> 100".

It's obviously not called Cold Dark Matter for nothing.

So with this precedent it sounds like a wonderful challenge for imagining enthusiasts.

Once again, well done!

RickS (Rick) · #32 22-12-2015, 02:36 PM

Congrats, Mike! Lucky you were using the PL16803 and not that little Sony sensor

Cheers,
Rick.

wavelandscott (Scott) · #33 22-12-2015, 02:40 PM

Congratulations! Exciting news indeed.

Shiraz (Ray) · #34 22-12-2015, 02:59 PM

super good work Mike. hearty congratulations.

DJT (David) · #35 22-12-2015, 03:06 PM

Congrats on the find, a great result!

DiscoDuck (Paul) · #36 22-12-2015, 03:25 PM

Congratulations, Mike!!

strongmanmike (Michael) · #37 22-12-2015, 03:27 PM

Thanks again guys glad you find it at least a little bit cool

My thoughts exactly Rick

Gary, I agree, not sure what is going on there, perhaps the entire area they were hoping to cover around the galaxy wasn't finished or it didn't quite stretch to my little baby...and they just missed NGC 253-dw2..?

Mike