Does anyone know what this is in M81

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

I imaged the M81 galaxy after I had got Jupiter and Saturn the other day. I have noticed a small smudge possibly a galaxy circled in the upper right of the image.

This is the first time I have put 95 mins of lights together after plate solving in APT, guiding and dithering (I think the pieces are starting to click into place), it is also pretty much the first time we have any sort of clear nights since I got the guide scope some two months ago, odd clearer night but issues with kit ect, and yes I know there is coma, still saving for that bit.

 

[Hughsie]

Here you go. Plate solved image attached from one I took earlier this year. A small galaxy, PGC28225.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Hughsie

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

17 hours ago, Hughsie said:

Here you go. Plate solved image attached from one I took earlier this year. A small galaxy, PGC28225.

Thanks what did you use to plate solve as everything i tried didn't show anything.

[Hughsie]

The standard free goto plate solve would be Astrometry.net then there is both the Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel sky atlases if you want to hunt around rather than plate solve.Before answering your question I even tried the retro approach and used a book, Interstellarium Deep Sky Atlas. Good for most major targets but not this one. 

The plate solving I have used is from the processing software provided by PixInsight. Great software for processing your deep sky images but it does require a one off fee to be paid and includes amongst other things the ability to plate solve your image. Cheaper options with plate solving are available including the British Astronomical Association (annual fee payable) and Astrobin (free depending on how many photos you upload). I use both BAA/Astrobin and my original image didn’t reveal the id of the target you have also captured. 

Someone else here my have some ideas for a reasonable way to plate solve but it is a faint object so its always going to be a challenge.

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

@HughsieI tried Astrometry, it has in the past picked up much fainter objects. The only star atlas I have access to apart from a copy of Norton's is the "Deep Sky Hunter Atlas", tried both Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel sky atlases, limited on astrobin.

From the catalogue number you gave I did some searching, I found some bits also it is known as UGC 05247, I was interested to see how far it is, but could find nothing clear.

I used to have a copy of Uranometria (Northen) back in the 90's not sure what happened to it, so not adversed to digging around I just came up blank with this one.

[Paul M]

5 hours ago, Nicola Hannah Butterfield said:

Thanks what did you use to plate solve as everything i tried didn't show anything.

I've got a big soft spot for ASTAP http://www.hnsky.org/astap.htm  

Amongst its features it has deep sky annotation and Hyperleda annotation.  

 

[Gfamily]

Fun Fact: the small galaxy next to M81 (UGC 5336 - also Holmberg IX), is a dwarf galaxy that is one of the youngest galaxies in the local neighbourhood. The stellar population indicates that it's less than 200 Million years old - which means that there were mammals on Earth before this galaxy switched on. 

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

@HughsieFound the plate solver in PixInsight.

            

 

[Hughsie]

👍

[wimvb]

On 22/12/2020 at 20:27, Nicola Hannah Butterfield said:

I imaged the M81 galaxy after I had got Jupiter and Saturn the other day. I have noticed a small smudge possibly a galaxy circled in the upper right of the image.

This is the first time I have put 95 mins of lights together after plate solving in APT, guiding and dithering (I think the pieces are starting to click into place), it is also pretty much the first time we have any sort of clear nights since I got the guide scope some two months ago, odd clearer night but issues with kit ect, and yes I know there is coma, still saving for that bit.

 

UGC 5247, PGC 28225, LEDA 28225. Not much additional info on this galaxy. It doesn't seem to be part of any group or cluster. Located some 150 MLy distant according to SIMBAD

http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=UGC 5247

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

Not much additional info on this galaxy. It doesn't seem to be part of any group or cluster. Located some 150 MLy distant according to SIMBAD

Thanks.

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

On 23/12/2020 at 18:47, Paul M said:

I've got a big soft spot for ASTAP http://www.hnsky.org/astap.htm  

Amongst its features it has deep sky annotation and Hyperleda annotation.  

 

Thanks for that, I found database that annotated like this, the figures are ly. aquired from the redshifts I could find, and using an edited version of the objects exported using the {GC Hyperleda catalog.

 

It would be nice to find a data source, so I can export the table with redshift and mag.

Anyway so far this little adventure has turned up the furthest known object at 3.43 billion miles, providing I have the redshift LY conversion right.

 

Edit.

Light years not miles.

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Nicola Hannah Butterfield