swag72 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Lovely image Sara, and thanks for the IFN explanation, I only had a vague idea what it was before, but now I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Gorgeous image and interesting write-up, Sara - thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSadlerAstro Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 That is so beautiful--and 64 hours exposure too! Wow. ? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 That's so impressive. So much detail in the whole image, your eyes just flick around everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooth_dr Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Yep that’s a class act! Wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroKane Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Stunning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey-T Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Super image Sara, all I'm likely to catch round here is LP. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dwarfer Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Excellent capture ! I heard of Bode`s nebula before , but had no idea what it was until I read the information above ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petergoodhew Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterHarling Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Very nice! You must have a very dark sky to get this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry page Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Hi Sara Try this in pixinsight , just apply straight to the image--should help with the stars Harry Magenta_Star_Reduction.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomato Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Very nice, never thought I would see an image of this region where the IFN takes prominence over the galaxies, but this one makes it. Only took 64 hours, gulp.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 14 minutes ago, harry page said: Hi Sara Try this in pixinsight , just apply straight to the image--should help with the stars Harry Magenta_Star_Reduction.zip What am I supposed to do with this? How do I use it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_taurus83 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry page Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 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!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 Found another couple of things in the image - Thanks to Aladin plate solving..... Holmberg1 top left....... I may give that a look with the TMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimvb Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 2 hours ago, wimvb said: 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 I had seen that PDF - Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shibby Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 6 hours ago, Shibby said: Saw this on twitter first, came here to comment! The IFN looks superb, very nicely captured with all that dedication! Thanks! I'm thrilled that you like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry page Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Hi Oh sorry forgot to say ? , I was only jealous off all that data Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 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 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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