M87 with jet - just for fun

[wimvb]

Update at the end of this post. Includes final image

 

Inspired by a post by @tomato I'm doing this quick project. Astro season is at an end here, and I have bagged the last data for my last project. So, just for fun, I'm pointing my telescope at M87, in order to capture the jet.

While it's not completely dark yet, I collect through a red filter (increasing contrast), but after midnight, I will collect L. No colour intended.

The complete sequence is 30 x 2,5 minutes Red, and 40 x 2,5 minutes L for a total of almost 3 hours monochrome data.

Here's a stack of 4 x 2,5 minutes as a test image, calibrated but without pixel rejection.

This is a crop from a wider field (MN190 with ASI294MM). Guiding isn't great because the galaxy is rather low and there's moisture in the air. I have an RMS of 0.8 - 0.9", which is close to my pixel scale (0.96")

Update:

of the intended 30 x R and 40 x L images, I could only collect the Red filtered images and 12 L images. Of the red images, only 25 were usable. The 12 L images were ok, but had more noise (expected). I decided to only use the good subs for the final image.

This is M87 with its jet and several globular clusters, imaged during one night. 25 x 2,5 minute exposures with a red filter.

Processed in PixInsight. A decent finale of the astro season.

Edited April 21, 2021 by wimvb

[wimvb]

Unfortunately clouds spoiled the fun after the meridian flip. I managed to capture red and some luminance, but not as much as I had intended. Still, this should make for a nice image of the jet.

[wimvb]

I updated the original post, and included the final processed image.

[geeklee]

Great stuff Wim.  Time well spent and an excellent outcome.  The enlarged crop doesn't do it (as much) justice - you should include the 1:1 version - awesome.

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, geeklee said:

Great stuff Wim.  Time well spent and an excellent outcome.  The enlarged crop doesn't do it (as much) justice - you should include the 1:1 version - awesome.

Thanks, Lee.

I agree that the best view is the original image when viewed at full size. The inset is more of an apetizer when viewing in a scaled down size.

[tomato]

Nice one! You should give the 3C 273 jet a go, I tried and think I captured it, just.

[wimvb]

52 minutes ago, tomato said:

Nice one! You should give the 3C 273 jet a go, I tried and think I captured it, just.

That would be a challenge. Unfortunately it will have to wait untill next spring. Astro season is over here, it's snowing (!) and raining atm, and the target is very low in the sky for me. Even with M87 at about 42 degrees altitude, guiding was really bad due to moisture in the air. I image over a forrest across a field, and if I point the scope low, guide rms is usually high. 3C273 is at 32 degrees, 10 degrees lower. But I may try it late winter or early spring.