Leo Triplet, M96 Group, Leo II Dwarf & Vesta

[Knight of Clear Skies]

I'm still shooting some tiny galaxies at the moment. Partly due to some technical issues with the telescopic setup, but mostly because it is easy and enjoyable. Hardly a showcase image but there is plenty to find in there.

North is to the left, the Leo triplet is at the bottom while the M96 group is at the top. Despite the enormous distance between them they might all be gravitationally bound into a single group. The M96 group is surrounded by an enormous ring of hydrogen, the result of a galactic collision. There is UV emission coming from it, which probably means dwarf galaxies are forming there.

This was just 34 minutes with the Canon 6d and Samyang 135mm f2, as the clouds rolled in.

 

Barely a hint of the Hamburger tidal tail if I stretch far too aggressively, it's faint.

 

The two brightest stars are Zosma & Chertan. I found a faint smudge I thought might be a low surface brightness galaxy, turned out to be the Leo II dwarf galaxy, a satellite of the Milky Way. Also in frame are a few Abell galaxy clusters (1177 being the brightest), a ton of background galaxies and Vesta.

Here's a closer view of Leo II from SDSS.

And here's Abell 1177 from SDSS, its brightest galaxy is NGC 3551. I can't find any amateur images of the cluster in case anyone would like to have a go.

I've captured a lot more data of the Virgo cluster, hopefully I'll get around to processing it soon.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Knight of Clear Skies

[geeklee]

Such an expansive wide field shot!  Really enjoyable write up too and thanks for the inverted markup image that kept me on track 😅

[callisto]

4 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

This was just 34 minutes with the Canon 6d and Samyang 135mm f2

Nice shots...were you using the Star Adventurer mount and what is the 34 mins broken down to?

 

Mark

[Knight of Clear Skies]

On 21/04/2021 at 20:38, callisto said:

Nice shots...were you using the Star Adventurer mount and what is the 34 mins broken down to?

Yes, this was 2 minute subs on the Star Adventurer.

[tomato]

Great images and very informative notes, shows you don’t need to have a close up rig to enjoy galaxy season.