Leo Quartet Galaxy Group.

[Taman]

Also known as Hickson 44.

This interesting group of galaxies is about 100 million light years away. The "S" shaped galaxy is 13th magnitude NGC 3187 or ARP 316 from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. It is being warped by gravitational interaction with other members of the group.

Conditions were a bit bumpy last night, but I managed to get  a reasonable image out of it.

30 x 300s with darks, flats and dark flats. Total exposure time 2 hours 30 mins.

C11 at f6.3, ASI294MC Pro, Optolong L-Pro filter.

Image processed with ASTAP, SiriL and Photoshop.

Thanks for looking!

Tony.

[geeklee]

Another cracking image Tony.  What a great set of galaxies to capture (added to my growing list of potential future targets).  NGC 3187 is brilliant.

[Taman]

1 hour ago, geeklee said:

Another cracking image Tony.  What a great set of galaxies to capture (added to my growing list of potential future targets).  NGC 3187 is brilliant.

Thanks Lee! I'm trying to make the most of this clear run before the Moon gets too bright!

I do like these odd galaxies and have just found an interesting website about them. https://cseligman.com/text/arpatlas.htm

The pictures for the original Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies were done using the 200" reflector at Mount Palomar!

Tony.

[petevasey]

Very nice, Tony.  I imaged this group in 2010.  Strange, they haven't changed at all 😉

But in the Spring I briefly use the group as part of my setup.  A quirk of my Observatory drive system (Gemini G41) is that sometimes the declination direction is reversed on switch on.  I just need a single star for alignment, at the moment Regulus is a good choice.  So when I check the DEC movement, NGC 3190 is nicely placed just above Regulus and I can see immediately if a correction is required (just one button press).  But I haven't been tempted to image the group again.  I don't think I'd do any better than the first time!

Cheers,

Peter

[Taman]

17 minutes ago, petevasey said:

Very nice, Tony.  I imaged this group in 2010.  Strange, they haven't changed at all 😉

But in the Spring I briefly use the group as part of my setup.  A quirk of my Observatory drive system (Gemini G41) is that sometimes the declination direction is reversed on switch on.  I just need a single star for alignment, at the moment Regulus is a good choice.  So when I check the DEC movement, NGC 3190 is nicely placed just above Regulus and I can see immediately if a correction is required (just one button press).  But I haven't been tempted to image the group again.  I don't think I'd do any better than the first time!

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks Peter! Yes Regulus is in a nice position at the moment, I'm using it with the guide assistant in PHD2 as it's near the meridian. Your Gemini has got some interesting "features". 😀

I like revisiting targets as I hope to do better than the last time! Hopefully my processing skills are better too!

Tony.