Galaxy in the deep south - now with Hubble comparison :-P
This is a rarely imaged galaxy in far southern Octans. A leisurely scan of my planetarium program indicated this might be a good candidate to shoot. It sits in a very faint bed of Galactic Cirrus dust too.
The Cirrus dust is pretty faint and the proximity to the pole (just 50deg elevation at the meridian) put it in a somewhat unfavourable position from my dark sky site in that it spent much of its arc across the sky in the upper portion of the glow of Canberra .
Never the less.... I thought I'd have a crack... but, like Rolf does, I had to push the processing just slightly in order to reveal the faint galactic cirrus but at at the expense of a slight increase in noise, which doesn't bother me too much, rather see the faint stuff than not
Along with the usual out in the elements pleasurable outdoor experience complete with beer, coffee and Friday night football and late night ABC discussions and quizzes on the radio (and lonely posts on IIS about mundane things) etc. each night..and apart from one night being plagued by some annoying wafting thin cloud at times (the type you can still image through but you know it ain't good), delivered good to excellent seeing with guide errors rarely greater than 0.1 pix (0.3 arcsec) and regularly well below, in fact for a period of a few hours one night the guide star essentially didn't move...serious astro orgasm material!
Anyway....referred to as a double barred spiral galaxy and at over 100 Million light years distant, this ain't a close galaxy and listed in LEDA at a modest 4.2' X 2.7' in size, it also isn't particularly large in angular size, so, the good seeing conditions proved a real blessing in revealing some of the tiny subtle features in the ring of the galaxy (didn't actually discard a single sub frame!). In fact, after finishing my processing, a quick peruse of the very few available images on the web revealed no image with greater resolution, so I was quite happy with the outcome. The small, spiral galaxy near the bottom right of the full frame image is ESO 048 - G 007
At 18hrs of total exposure, this is now officially the longest exposure I have done with the F3.8 AG12 would seem I just can't quite wait long enough to crack the elusive 20hr mark (although had the fog not descended on Mon morning I would'a! )
Wonderful Mike. And i can count at least five other small galaxies in that image in addition to the ones you mentioned. How long were your subs? IOTD for sure.
Very, very nice. Never seen before. Beautifly presented, framed, wonderful galaxy detail.....wait, am I being a groupie??
Naah...top stuff Mike!
Thanks Barto, glad you liked the view, something different
Groupie.... is that what dirty old men do to nurses ...ah no wait, that's groping huh..?..oi, don't touch me fella
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
Wonderful Mike. And i can count at least five other small galaxies in that image in addition to the ones you mentioned. How long were your subs? IOTD for sure.
Thanks Glen, I used 15min subs for Lum and 5min subs for colour all bin 1X1...but I think there might be more than 5 other galaxies in the full frame shot
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobF
Very very nice Mike. You've certainly got galaxy processing down pat!
Cheers Rob, glad you think so...still wish I had a 32" at 2200m in the Andes...
That's a beautiful image Mike and I think one of your best.
You are right this one is rarely imaged. I think this is the first time I have seen it.
A stunner.
Greg.
That's a beautiful image Mike and I think one of your best.
You are right this one is rarely imaged. I think this is the first time I have seen it.
A stunner.
Greg.
Hey thanks Greg, you recon..? Well, glad you liked it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Somnium
what an absolutely stunning image! well done
Thanks Aidan, nice to hear
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
Beautiful, gentle processing, Mike. The detail in the main galaxy is glorious.
Yes, I counted at least 57 absolutely definite galaxies in the image.
Cheers Mike and Trish...I think 57 is probably more like it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
Very nice Mike! What I do love is being able to see the variation in the dusty background. The main galaxy is very smoooooooth
Errrr..? you mean, dusty "foreground" ...in relation to the galaxy that is Thanks Mate, I've been reasonably lucky with the seeing this year out at Walla's actually..touch wood
Yep, she's a beauty big guyseeing must of been good looking at that fine edge detail alright.
Cheers giant Louie ...yeah the seeing has been reasonably kind around here in recent months
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimmoW
Gorgeous Mike! Such a symmetrical little Galaxy. Great to see the rare objects captured. Even more precious when it takes 18 hours..
Thanks Simon, only one other decent amateur image that I could find, by Don Goldman with his 20" CDK at Coona but while he has certainly gone heavier than I on the sharpening... I don't think it actually shows any more real detail and our Stella limiting magnitudes appear about the same even, so yes, I got good seeing
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrograde
So many tiny galaxies with a marvellous centrepiece.
Just superb Mike!
Thanks so much Pete, very glad you enjoyed the view..the tiny galaxies always make a galaxy image I recon
That's a stunner, Mike. A rare object captured and processed beautifully. Getting perilously close to megadata though
There's a very nice one by Don Goldman.
Cheers,
Rick.
Ha ha yeah I know, imagine, Mike aaaalmost hitting 20hrs
Yes Dons image is the only other decent shot out there that I could find and it is excellent but even with a 20" CDK at Coona, a close comparison reveals little or no difference in resolution and limiting magnitude Don has just gone much harder on the sharpening and I'm not sure what is real detail in the galaxy ring and what is sharpening artefacts? I am also puzzled with his cirrus dust distribution, it doesn't match mine that closely really...perhaps a flats issue..? His image shows a blue halo/glow around the galaxy too that I'm not sure is real? Still a great shot, just musing.
Yes Dons image is the only other decent shot out there that I could find and it is excellent but even with a 20" CDK at Coona, a close comparison reveals little or no difference in resolution and limiting magnitude Don has just gone much harder on the sharpening and I'm not sure what is real detail in the galaxy ring and what is sharpening artefacts? I am also puzzled with his cirrus dust distribution, it doesn't match mine that closely really...perhaps a flats issue..? His image shows a blue halo/glow around the galaxy too that I'm not sure is real? Still a great shot, just musing.
You have the benefit of hours staring at the data, Mike, and that counts for a lot. I did notice the halo.
Congratulations Mike on achieving 18 hours exposure time on the AG12. The Galaxy looks gorgeous, lots of detail and colour. Was it difficult guiding so close to the pole?
Congratulations Mike on achieving 18 hours exposure time on the AG12. The Galaxy looks gorgeous, lots of detail and colour. Was it difficult guiding so close to the pole?
Cheers
Bill
Cheers Bill
Well 18hours is not exactly in the transfixed imaging league but with 12" of aperture at F3.8 its the equivalent of a much longer exposure with smaller and/or slower instruments.
Actually guiding at the pole should be a little better and it sure was, so combined with the good seeing experienced the guide star plot was insanely still much of the time.
.
(although had the fog not descended on Mon morning I would'a! 
.. is that what dirty old men do to nurses 
...in relation to the galaxy that is 
