NGC 1097 with remote data

[tomato]

 Having decided after my house move not to get the imaging rig out until after the permanent observatory has been completed, I have been exploring other options. I have joined the Perton Library Astronomy Group which is affiliated to one of my local clubs the  Wolverhampton Astronomical Society. As part of an educational programme the library has access to telescope time provided by the Las Cumbres Observatory, and after submitting a request, we were fortunate to have some data provided on this object.

So, this was imaged by the 2 metre Faulkes Telescope North, (see photo below) operated by the Las Cumbres Observatory at the Haleakala location. It consists of 160 secs Red and Green filters, and 195 secs Blue. It would appear that the subs are uncalibrated (no darks or flats applied), but usually calibrated frames are supplied. The data was registered and stacked in APP, then processed in Startools and GIMP. I am very impressed with result for less than 9 mins integration, but it certainly helps having a 2 metre RC on top of a mountain in Hawaii.

As this data was provided for educational purposes, here is some info on this beautiful barred spiral galaxy supplied by Wikipedia and the NASA APOD site:

Description

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy about 45 million light years away in the constellation Fornax. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 October 1790. It’s blue spiral arms are mottled with pinkish star forming regions in this colorful galaxy portrait. They seem to have wrapped around a small companion galaxy below and right of center, about 40,000 light-years from the spiral's luminous core. That's not NGC 1097's only peculiar feature, though. Very deep exposure hints of faint, mysterious jets, most easily seen to extend well beyond the bluish arms. In fact, four faint jets are ultimately recognised in optical images of NGC 1097. The jets trace an X centered on the galaxy's nucleus, but probably don't originate there. Instead, they could be fossil star streams, trails left over from the capture and disruption of a much smaller galaxy in the large spiral's ancient past. A Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1097's nucleus also harbors a supermassive black hole.

Thanks for looking.

Edited August 23, 2019 by tomato
Info section edited to match image

[Allinthehead]

Well that's some sight.