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M81, M82 and the IFN

swag72

By swag72
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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swag72

swag72

Posted
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Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, in the constellation Ursa Major. Messier 81 was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on December 31, 1774.. Consequently, the galaxy is sometimes referred to as "Bode's Galaxy". In 1779, Pierre Méchain and Charles Messier reidentified Bode's object, which was subsequently listed in the Messier Catalogue. Most of the emission at infrared wavelengths originates from interstellar dust. This interstellar dust is found primarily within the galaxy's spiral arms, and it has been shown to be associated with star formation regions.

M82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. M82 was also discovered by Johann Elert Bode on December 31, 1774 together with M81. M82 is being physically affected by its larger neighbour, the spiral M81. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed M82, a process that started about 100 million years ago. This interaction has caused star formation to increase tenfold compared to "normal" galaxies.

The two galaxies in this image appear wrapped in a gauzy network of nebulosity. This is the integrated flux nebula (IFN), it is an extremely faint glow caused by the combined light of the stars of the Milky Way reflected and re-emitted by interstellar gas and dust. It’s most easily seen in images far from the starry plane of the Milky Way. The IFN consists of blue starlight scattered by interstellar dust, as well as red light emitted by interstellar atoms and molecules.
The IFN is so elusive it was not identified until the early 1990s

These clouds are mostly visible at high galactic latitudes - those portions of the sky that are well outside of the plane of the Milky Way. We see very large portions of the IFN in the regions towards the north near Polaris and other circumpolar constellations. 

Details
M: EQ8
T: Takahashi FSQ85 0.73x reducer
? QSI683 and Moravian G2-8300 with Baader RGB, IDAS LP for luminance and Astrodon 3nm Ha filters.

103x1200s Luminance
75x300s in Red, Green and Blue
23x1800s Ha

Totalling 64 hours and 35 minutes in exposure time.

You can see a larger res version on my website http://www.swagastro.com/m81-and-m82.html

m81 m82.jpg

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Tim

Tim

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Good to see such refined structure in the IFN Sara, dont normally see it that smooth.

That's a lot of Ha, apart from the obvious around the galaxies, was there much signal anywhere else in the region?

Cheers

Tim

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Petergoodhew

Petergoodhew

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Wow Sara - 201 subs and 64 hours! Imaginative framing - putting the IFN centre stage. What's the world coming to with Olly doing narrowband  and you doing LRGB?! I love the soft pastel colours, gentle and natural. Really beautiful.

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david_taurus83

david_taurus83

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Wow! 64 hours! If I may ask, have you added to this over the weeks and months or have you stuck doggedly at it night after night until you were happy with the number of subs? My target for the end of the year are 3 x 20 hour shots of the winter favourites M31, M42 and M45. Fantastic image btw!

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harry page

harry page

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3 minutes ago, swag72 said:

What am I supposed to do with this? How do I use it? 

Hi  Unzip it to your desktop , then have your image open in pixinsight , double click the process icon and it should appear on your pixinsight desktop

then just drag it onto your image and admire stars with no magenta :)

 

Harry

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swag72

swag72

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6 hours ago, Tim said:

Good to see such refined structure in the IFN Sara, dont normally see it that smooth.

That's a lot of Ha, apart from the obvious around the galaxies, was there much signal anywhere else in the region?

Cheers

Tim

There really wasn't much Ha around at all Tim.

1 hour ago, HunterHarling said:

Very nice! You must have a very dark sky to get this?

Nope - Skies not good, I live with street lights and 20km from Spains 3rd largest city :( 

1 hour ago, david_taurus83 said:

Wow! 64 hours! If I may ask, have you added to this over the weeks and months or have you stuck doggedly at it night after night until you were happy with the number of subs? My target for the end of the year are 3 x 20 hour shots of the winter favourites M31, M42 and M45. Fantastic image btw!

I stuck at this pretty doggedly on moonless nights as I was getting bored and wanted it finished!!!

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wimvb

wimvb

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13 hours ago, swag72 said:

Holmberg1 top left....... I may give that a look

I noticed that too when I saw your excellent image. Looks like an interesting target for a long fl (or wide field with more ifn).

Have you read this pdf?

http://www.aicccd.com/archive/aic2005/The_unexplored_nebula_project-smandel.pdf

 

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Shibby

Shibby

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Saw this on twitter first, came here to comment! The IFN looks superb, very nicely captured with all that dedication!

I think if I added up my last 2 years of imaging, it wouldn't total 64 hours!

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swag72

swag72

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11 hours ago, harry page said:

Hi

Oh sorry forgot to say ? , I was only jealous off all that data

Harry 

Don't be jealous Harry ... Just think of all the time i have to spend processing it..... no life beyond the computer ?

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