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Leo Triplet & tidal tail

Barry-Wilson

By Barry-Wilson
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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Barry-Wilson

Barry-Wilson

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A long and deep look at this intriguing interacting trio of galaxies. It had been a long-held ambition to image the complete extended tidal tail of NGC3628, Hamburger or Sarah's Galaxy and I'm pleased to say that our (Steve & I) plan worked although I can confirm that the tidal tail doesn't give itself up easily, even with 1200s Luminance subs. I had imaged this almost two years ago in a tighter frame and made a good stab at the tidal tail here.  But wanted nevertheless to return to it and capture the tail more fully and in a wider context having seen other fine examples , including Olly's and Maurice Toet's here. The image is a slight crop.

Captured between mid-December 2017 and early February 2018 at e-Eye, Spain.

Data capture: Steve Milne & Barry Wilson
Processing: Barry Wilson

Details:

  • Tak FSQ106 at F5
  • 10 Micron GM1000HPS
  • QSI683wsg-8 with Astrodon filters
  • Lum 27 x 1200s + 30 x 600s; 24 x 600s each RG&B; 26 hrs total integration
  • SGP for capture & PI for processing

LRGBBlend_Stars_crop.thumb.jpg.fec7344560caf485c79a77382290bf77.jpg

 

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PhotoGav

PhotoGav

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Great result Barry (and Steve!). That tail certainly seems to be faint, but you have teased it out beautifully. This is my next target, with intentions of catching the tail. It will be very interesting to see how Wiltshire skies compare to Spanish skies. I have a sinking feeling already!!! Lovely processing as ever, subtle, understated, but all the detail has been eeked out. Great job! I love all the tiny galaxies dotted about the field too.

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Barry-Wilson

Barry-Wilson

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5 minutes ago, PhotoGav said:

Great result Barry (and Steve!). That tail certainly seems to be faint, but you have teased it out beautifully. This is my next target, with intentions of catching the tail. It will be very interesting to see how Wiltshire skies compare to Spanish skies. I have a sinking feeling already!!! Lovely processing as ever, subtle, understated, but all the detail has been eeked out. Great job! I love all the tiny galaxies dotted about the field too.

Thanks Gav.  After working with the data, the tail was evident in the 600s Lum subs and whilst the 1200s went deeper they also brought other matters to battle with, eg bloated stars.  If you persevere and have a little bit of luck with good seeing and steady weather (it does sometimes happen as Spring emerges), 600s may be all you need, however, you will need a lot of them (35+ at a guess).  A brutal stretch simply ruins the stars and galaxies so you have to be subtle in your pursuit . . . :drunken_smilie:

Good luck & CS!

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Excellent result Barry, as Gav said tricky thing from Spain and even trickier from the UK, I did a 2 frame mosaic of them many years ago with the 10" SCT but don't remember any sign of a tidal tail,

Doubt I even new it existed :grin:

Dave

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Barry-Wilson

Barry-Wilson

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Many thanks Steve, Dave, Danny, wookie, Geof, Peter, Ron and Rodd.  Feedback much appreciated.

1 hour ago, Rodd said:

Tail looks great.  In the way of CC Galaxies appear a bit reddish/yellow on my monitor.  Was that you target palette?

Rodd

I have not adjusted the hue in any way; being RGB the pallete is 'fixed' and set by my data and calibration process.  The colour balance is an equal mixture of PI's Colour Calibration and the new PCC tool.  From my experience imaging this target in the past and references on the web, the galaxies tend to a yellowy colour with M66 showing red HII regions and blue from hot blue clusters.

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Barry-Wilson

Barry-Wilson

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On 21/02/2018 at 18:31, Allinthehead said:

That's a great image Barry. Your Spanish setup is certainly paying dividends. Any issues with it?

Thanks Richard.  No issues at all with Spain.  There are minor tweaks you make to your processes/systems in the the first few weeks as you and your partner settle down and understand more about remote imaging.  Planning and prep takes you a long way but you still have to be open to adapt as you learn.  It is all humming along nicely now.  We plan imaging targets and objectives together and take it in turns to control the system and carry out the admin, eg zipping and uploading subs.  It is a great boon to be able to bounce ideas of a like-minded soul rather than shoulder all of the tasks.

On 21/02/2018 at 21:13, alan4908 said:

A spectacular image Barry, well done !

Alan

Cheers Alan.

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Paul M

Paul M

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Very nice, so much detail but without forcing it. A very natural image.

Whilst admiring the beauty of this image I also lose myself in the realisation of just what I'm looking at. There are numerous tiny fuzzies dotted about that image really give it some depth - both photographic an philosophical!  

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Barry-Wilson

Barry-Wilson

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On 22/02/2018 at 22:21, Stub Mandrel said:

That's good, be proud!

Thanks Neil - I am very pleased to have this image of my to-do list.

On 22/02/2018 at 22:43, coatesg said:

Super result! 

Cheers Graeme.

On 22/02/2018 at 23:42, Paul M said:

Very nice, so much detail but without forcing it. A very natural image.

Whilst admiring the beauty of this image I also lose myself in the realisation of just what I'm looking at. There are numerous tiny fuzzies dotted about that image really give it some depth - both photographic an philosophical!  

Ah, definitely one of the rewards of AP . . .

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Very fine, Barry. You processed the tail with less use of the iron crow-bar than I did! Your result is more natural looking. Some of those tantalizing faint fuzzies next to the Hamburger are quasars, I believe.

Olly

Much appreciated Olly.  It has also been very interesting to note Steve's very fine image too, here.

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