NGC3521 spiral galaxy

[gregbradley]

Here is another image in my galaxy series. I took this over the last 2 nights which were clear at my home observatory.

This is an unusual galaxy in that the arms are very faint and the central area is quite bright and it almost looks like an elliptical galaxy.

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/...32809887/large widefield
http://upload.pbase.com/image/132809887 larger size widefield
http://upload.pbase.com/image/132809894 crop

FLI Proline 16803, Paramount ME, Pegasus pier, Planewave CDK17.

LRGB 150 60 60 60.

Greg.

[Octane (Humayun)]

She's a beauty, Greg. Glad to see you've been able to do some imaging.

May I suggest perhaps trying to bring the blues out a little in the spiral arms? I reckon there's a bit there that could be brought out.

Cheers.

H

[renormalised (Carl)]

Nice shots, Greg . Glad you have some clear skies.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Very nice I like the halo, nice glow and tricky to process I'd think.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by renormalised

Nice shots, Greg . Glad you have some clear skies.

Clear skies have certainly been few and far between this year so far.

Originally Posted by Octane

She's a beauty, Greg. Glad to see you've been able to do some imaging.

May I suggest perhaps trying to bring the blues out a little in the spiral arms? I reckon there's a bit there that could be brought out.

Cheers.

H

Thanks Humi. I did that and I think it improved it a little bit. I toned down the yellowish centre as part of that is probably red shift.

Originally Posted by rogerg

Very nice I like the halo, nice glow and tricky to process I'd think.

Thanks Roger. It is an unsual galaxy. It looks to be the result of a collision of 2 forming those unusual shells and halfway between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy.

Greg.

[TrevorW]

Good capture Greg

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Yes very interesting galaxy Greg, I like the wider field the best with the extra stars.

The central area looks the most interesting, there looks to be some vertical jets or streamers on the left side of the inner bright area..?

The outer halo could do with a little sid though , looks a tad harsh and messy with an abrupt transition boundary...?

MIke

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Don't see this one very often - very nice Greg!

Cheers, Marcus

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Good capture Greg

Thanks Trev.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Yes very interesting galaxy Greg, I like the wider field the best with the extra stars.

The central area looks the most interesting, there looks to be some vertical jets or streamers on the left side of the inner bright area..?

The outer halo could do with a little sid though , looks a tad harsh and messy with an abrupt transition boundary...?

MIke

I went back to the earlier version and also smoothed it out a tad more.
I prefer this look. The outer halo at least in my data does not seem to be bluish so I was forcing it on the image. It appears this galaxy is halfway between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy. Perhaps in the later stages of 2 galaxies colliding.

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Don't see this one very often - very nice Greg!

Cheers, Marcus

Thanks Marcus. I like this later repro (same links) as a better representation of what my gear picked up. As usual it would be nice to do a 12 hour image but the skies haven't been there as you know.

Greg.

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Greg,

Nice capture.

Frank

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by telecasterguru

Greg,

Nice capture.

Frank

Thanks Frank.

I was up at Pearl Beach last week for business. Its a very nice area.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Nice galaxy Greg. The close up shows nice compact Ha areas. Heaps of detail too.

[allan gould]

Beautiful- you have inspired me to put this on my to do list.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Nice galaxy Greg. The close up shows nice compact Ha areas. Heaps of detail too.

Thanks Paul. I like this galaxy and NGC3621. Both are unusual and quite pretty.

Originally Posted by allan gould

Beautiful- you have inspired me to put this on my to do list.

Thanks Allan. I am glad you liked it.

Greg.

[Fabiomax (Fabiomassimo)]

I think it's one of the most beautiful galaxies.
Unfortunately in my part is a little low on the horizon.
I think the areas around the galaxies are actually very weak.
To my taste just a little color saturation.
Cheers,
Fabiomax

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Nice shot Greg. As you say it is quite unusual. It reminds me a bit of the black eye galaxy.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Fabiomax

I think it's one of the most beautiful galaxies.
Unfortunately in my part is a little low on the horizon.
I think the areas around the galaxies are actually very weak.
To my taste just a little color saturation.
Cheers,
Fabiomax

Thank Fabio. Not 100% sure what you meant about colour saturation. Are you saying its too much saturation for your taste? It is a bit colourful but really that's largely how it came out without much processing. I think from darker skies I would have gotten more of a bluish tinge to it. It seems to be a bit dusty at that angle and yellowish.
The halo is dim and again from darker skies and longer exposure perhaps it would have been lighter and a tad more bluish but elliptical type galaxies are often whitish or a bit yellowish so perhaps it is quite accurate as is.

Originally Posted by peter_4059

Nice shot Greg. As you say it is quite unusual. It reminds me a bit of the black eye galaxy.

Thanks Peter.

[Tom Davis (Tom)]

Beautiful!!

-Tom

[gregbradley]

Thanks Tom.

Its good to hear from you again.

Are the cloudy winter skies over now?

Greg.

[Tom Davis (Tom)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Thanks Tom.

Its good to hear from you again.

Are the cloudy winter skies over now?

Greg.

Not yet. I still have 3 feet of snow at my house -- more in the forecast!

-Tom