alan4908

Thanks for the comment Andy. This image was captured with my Starlight Xpress Trius 814. When paired with my Esprit 150 it gives 0.7 arc seconds per pixel. Alan

NGC 3953 is a barred spiral galaxy located in Ursa Major and is a member of the M109 galaxy group. It’s about 55 million light years distant with a diameter of 100 000 light years. Observed from Earth, it has a high angular inclination, 29 degrees from edge on, with a bright active nucleus and inner dust lanes. The spiral arms contain young bright blue stars, whilst the pinkish regions indicate the presence of ionised hydrogen and star forming regions. Two supernova’s were also discovered in 2001 and 2006. The background also contains a handful of more distant background galaxies which I’ve labelled in the annotated version of the image. Interestingly, the galaxy PGC2832088 identified by Pixinsight is not visible, so I presume it must be extremely faint. The LRGB image was taken with my Esprit 150 and represents 17 hours integration time. Alan NGC 3953 NGC 3953 (annotated) LIGHTS: L:38, R:20, G:22, B:20 x 600s at -20C.

I haven’t come across many images of this on SGL, probably because due to it’s small apparent size. Anyway, I think the area is interesting and it includes a lost nebula ! Located in Taurus, Hind’s variable nebula (NGC1555) is about 4 light years across and 400 light years distant. It was discovered in 1852 by John Russell Hind. After discovery and over a period of several years, the objected slowly faded from view and eventually disappeared. In the early 20th Century, it became visible again leading astronomers to categorise it as a variable nebula. The object is a variable reflection nebula and is illuminated by the bright golden variable star T Tauri which can been seen at the centre of the image below. The very young star was born in the nebula and is pre-main sequence. The nebula changes in brightness as the clouds move around the star with the result is that the star and nebula do not appear to brighten at the same time. Another object, in the vicinity of Hind’s variable nebula, is known as Struve’s Lost Nebula. This was reported by Otto Wilhelm Struve in 1868 and verified by Heinrich d’Arrest. It was subsequently given a separate catalogue number (NGC1554) by Dreyer. It subsequently disappeared and is absent on photographic surveys. It has been speculated that the nebula may have been a transient portion of the reflection nebula complex which extends around this region of space. The LRGB image below was taken with my Esprit 150 and represents 12 hours integration time. Alan LIGHTS: L:27, R:17, G:17, B:12 x 600s.

Thanks ! I emphasized the blue quite a bit since I liked the blue haze effect Alan

LDN 673 is a located about 600 light years away in Aqulia and is a dark cloud complex. The clouds have temperatures between 10 and 100K which allows hydrogen atoms to form molecular hydrogen, a common ingredient for star formation. Evidence of star formation is seen from the presence of the Herbig Haro object HH32. These objects form when high speed jets of partially ionised gas ejected by stars collide with nearby gas and dust. The clouds tend to make the stars behind the object look reddish, whilst the densest regions completely blocks starlight. By contrast, the blue starlight from the nearer stars interacts with the dust and gas to create a bluish haze. The LRGB image represents about 13 hours integration time and was taken by my Esprit 150. Alan LIGHTS: L:27, R:19, G:21, B:13 x 600s.

NGC 266 is a large barred spiral galaxy in Pisces which is visually close to the 8th magnitude red/orange K star BD+31 122. It has an estimated diameter of 190 000 light years and is about 200m light years distant. Two spiral arms are seen to connect to the central bar and can be followed through a complete rotation. The galaxy is at the edge of a massive cloud of neutral hydrogen (HI) which stretches to another galaxy, NGC 262. Since NGC 262 has much lower amounts of HI than NGC 266, it is speculated that this HI cloud originates from NGC 266. The background image also reveals many galaxies and quasars, some of which are identified in the annotated version. Perhaps the most notable object is the spiral galaxy PGC212604, which is estimated to be 1.1 billion light years distant. If you look closely, you can also see a faint streak coming from the bottom of the galaxy, which is believed to be a blue companion galaxy. The LRGB image was taken by my Esprit 150 and represents about 15 hours integration time. Alan NGC 266 NGC 266 (annotated) LIGHTS: L:38, R:14, G:20, B:17 x 600s.

Thanks for the comment Bryan ! Alan

Thanks ! - yes, I agree those outer regions make it look a bit like a rose when you boost the contrast.... Thanks Martin - I presume the deep narrow band nature of the capture is a result of relatively dark skies at my site and 30min subs. On the noise front, you are correct, ultra noisily outer regions, however, given that this is a gas, I personally think the level of noise level looks OK but I understand your point. Alan

Thanks for the comment Peter. Alan

Another attempt at M57, this time with RGB stars and narrowband data to better capture the outer halos. I’ve also included an annotated version which identifies four background galaxies and two quasars. The image below represents a total integration time of 24 hours and was taken with my Esprit 150. Alan LIGHTS: L:40, R:14, G:17, B:18 x 600s; H:10, O:9 x 1800s all at -20C.

Thanks Mark. Thanks for the comment

Located in the Virgo cluster, the barred lenticular galaxy NGC 5701 is about 70 million light years away with an inclination of 15 degrees, so that it appears face on with the plane of the ring. Notable features are a lens shaped yellowish inner region embedded in an area of lower luminosity which connects to the blue spiral arms. A smaller more distant galaxy (PGC214310) can be seen through the rings while other background galaxies (PGC214311 and PCG1282083) are also visible. Even further out are five quasers which are estimated to be about 10 billion light years away, their positions are marked in the annotated version of the image. I could only find one other image on SGL of this galaxy, making this a neglected target. I’d encourage other contributions but note that it is a challenging target. Whilst the central bar is quite bright, the ring structure is very faint so you’ll need lots of long exposures and dark skies. It is also quite small, so you’ll also need a relatively low arc seconds per pixel set up. The image was taken with my Esprit 150 and represents about 13 hours integration time. Alan NGC 5701 NGC 5701 (annotated) LIGHTS: L:39; R:14; G:16; B:11 x 600s all at -20C.

Thanks for the comment - to me, it looks more like a floating eye Alan

IC1454 (aka Abell 81) is a planetary nebula located in Cepheus, close to the celestial North Pole. At about 14000 light years distant, it represents a challenging imaging target, mainly due to its small size of 34 arc seconds. The central star is also relatively dim at 18.8 magnitude. The LRGB image below is my attempt and represents 10.5 hours integration time. It was taken with my Esprit 150. Alan LIGHTS: L:22, R:12, G:14, B:15 x 600s all at -20C.