NGC3079 and double quasar

[petevasey]

The galaxy NGC 3079 in Ursa Major is very interesting in its own right, being somewhat disturbed with a bubble in its centre nicely imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. But the local area is also of interest because it contains the double quasar QSO 0957+561 A/B, which  was discovered in 1979 and was the first identified gravitationally lensed object.  A clear night tonight (1st. May) got me out imaging.  But this image at the moment is monochrome - lack of dark sky time this time of the year, but hopefully a couple more clear nights before all twilight until August will get me some RGB data.  I may also try for some H-alpha data, hopefully to show the 'bubble'.  But I suspect the extra data will have to wait until next year, and I doubt my equipment and sky conditions will have the necessary definition to show the bubble.  Fingers crossed!

Close examination of the centre of the galaxy just shows the star which Hubble imaged sitting at the top of one of the arms of the bubble.

10 x 15 minute subs with QSI 683 withSX AO unit on RC10 truss telescope.

Cheers,

Peter

 

[wimvb]

That's a great start on a very interesting object. Do you know what wavelength the Nasa image is at?

[petevasey]

5 hours ago, wimvb said:

That's a great start on a very interesting object. Do you know what wavelength the Nasa image is at?

Thanks, Wim.

Here's another link with more information. As you can see it's been imaged in optical and X-ray wavelengths.  Obviously the optical is what I'm interested in, but as I say above, I doubt if my equipment and location will let me resolve those fine structures.  The Hubble image is featured in the May issue of Sky at Night magazine - that is what tempted me to image it, and a browse of the 'net for other images informed me about the nearby quasar.

At my 55 deg N latitude, NGC 3079 transits at 89 degrees - right overhead.  But I missed the best chance this year.  Next February/March will be my best bet.  If I get an exceptionally stable sky, I'll try again unbinned and see what transpires.

Cheers,

Peter

[wimvb]

My guess is that if you collect an insane amount of Ha, you will get the bubble. From the optical data in your link, it looks like most if the interesting stuff is in Ha. The galaxy reminds me of M82, with its Ha clouds. If you also collect a lot of luminance, you can sharpen the detail a lot. But count on this being a major project.

Good luck with it.

[petevasey]

I've come across a ground based image from Adam Block/Jeff Hapeman, taken at his Observatory probably around 2005 with a 20" telescope.  It just shows the bubble.  The Observatory is situated over 9000 ft above sea level in Arizona. So I'm probably on a hiding to nothing with a 10" in the UK!  Anyway my original image was binned, so I'll have twice the resolution *on chip* unbinned.  Nevertheless I doubt I'll ever have good enough seeing, even using an Ha filter. But I've got to try 

Incidentally my present full size image is here.

Cheers

Peter

[wimvb]

The image from Adam Block thet you refer to was taken with a large aperture, but also with a minimum of integration time. If you collect several hours of luminance and several hours of Ha, you may very well show the bubble. This image isn't (just) about detail, but rather about noise and depth. If you can image from a dark location, that will help tremendously.