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NGC 4449


alan4908

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NGC 4449 is a dwarf galaxy located in Canes Venatici, 20,000 light years across and c12.5 million light years from Earth. Its structure is similar to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the satellite galaxy to our Milky Way.  Evidence for a very high rate of star formation is indicated by the presence of many young blue stars and pinkish star forming regions.

It was the first dwarf galaxy to have an associated tidal stream identified which is the product of violent interactions with another satellite dwarf galaxy, NGC 4449B. The faint remnants of NGC4449B appear as a dim trail of stars and dust which will eventually merge with NGC 4449.

The observable mass of NGC 4449 is insufficient to explain the interactions with other objects and so the missing mass is called dark matter.  Dark matter is believed to surround all galaxies, including our own. Dwarf galaxies have higher proportions of dark to normal matter and so what appears as a minor amount of observable stellar matter interacting with NGC 4449 may actually represent a large amount of dark matter, which may explain the very high rate of star formation.  

The LRGB image below was taken by my Esprit 150 and represents just over 15 hours integration time.

Alan

NGC 4449

820549116_25_crop.thumb.jpg.14538e635ba70732c8e3ba47f884b086.jpg

 

NGC 4449 (annotated)

25_crop_Annotated.thumb.jpg.9732e3002127623865fdb800dcc4b561.jpg

L:40,R:21, G:10, B:20 x 600s; DARKS:30, BIAS:100, FLATS:40 all at -20C.

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On 07/04/2021 at 10:42, Stuf1978 said:

Beautiful image of a target that I've never seen before, great work :)

Thanks - yes , it doesn't appear very often on SGL, perhaps because  of its small apparent size

 

22 hours ago, mackiedlm said:

that a beautiful image of a rather unusual target. - One to add to the list.

Thanks - its definitely worthy of more attention that it currently seems to get.

 

21 hours ago, Paul M said:

Stunning image!

It's a new object for me too.

Thanks for the comment. :happy11:

21 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Fantastic image and great write up too. My list of "must try this one too" just keeps getting bigger, I should perhaps write them down....

Thanks - if you are going to attempt this just be aware of its small apparent size.  

20 hours ago, petevasey said:

Beatiful image, Alan.  Fine deep detail and lovely colours.  That tidal tail is very difficult - I know from my own experience!

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks Peter. The tidal tail is very, very faint - even with my quite dark skies and 600s subs its only just above the noise floor . :hello:

Alan

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1 hour ago, alan4908 said:

Thanks - if you are going to attempt this just be aware of its small apparent size.  

Yes thanks, I did think it wouldn't harm much if I took off the .8 reducer to give me a whopping 480mm 🙂

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What a cracker, This is a first for me seeing this Galaxy

And what a super job you have done on it.

Judging by the size of it, you need quite an amount of focal length like your

Esprit 150 to get that level of detail.

well done 

Paul

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On 08/04/2021 at 15:35, scotty38 said:

Yes thanks, I did think it wouldn't harm much if I took off the .8 reducer to give me a whopping 480mm

Good luck with your capture !

 

On 08/04/2021 at 16:24, ultranova said:

What a cracker, This is a first for me seeing this Galaxy

And what a super job you have done on it.

Judging by the size of it, you need quite an amount of focal length like your

Esprit 150 to get that level of detail.

well done 

Paul

Thanks Paul.  Yes,  a long focal length helps and also small camera pixels.  With my Esprit 150 and my Trius 814 camera set up, I'm at 0.7 arc seconds/pixel which gives me quite a high resolution imaging set up.  

On 08/04/2021 at 16:58, geeklee said:

One of the most unique and beautiful images I've seen on here.  What a great image @alan4908

Thanks for the comment Lee  :happy11:

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