3C 273

[Astro Noodles]

Not much of a picture, I know. 😄

When the light set out from this object 2.4 billion years ago, there was no multicellular life on Earth. It is amazing to me that I can capture an image of it at all, no matter how fuzzy and faint from by back yard with a couple of thousand pounds worth of kit.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Astro Noodles

[tomato]

Great capture!👍 There is actually an optical plasma jet associated with this object but you will need to go close and deep to get a hint of it.

If objects like this capture your imagination, have a go at this one, it will be be just a few illuminated pixels on the image, but the facts and figures associated with it are truly mind blowing.

 

[Astro Noodles]

1 hour ago, tomato said:

an optical plasma jet associated with this object

 

1 hour ago, tomato said:

have a go at this one

I'm not sure my kit is up to the challenge. I had to zoom to 200% and stretch like crazy to get that image.  

Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[bluesman]

Nice capture. It's actually not that difficult an object visually, as you are essentially talking about a 12.9 magnitude 'star' when observing. I find it relatively easy in an 8inch scope but you really need to have the field mapped out to ensure you are seeing the right object. Lots of reports of seeing it in a 4inch frac. Sorry, I'm not sure what size your scope is AN. It's cool knowing those photons hitting your retinas left that length of time ago... 👍

[Astro Noodles]

2 minutes ago, bluesman said:

Nice capture. It's actually not that difficult an object visually, as you are essentially talking about a 12.9 magnitude 'star' when observing. I find it relatively easy in an 8inch scope but you really need to have the field mapped out to ensure you are seeing the right object. Lots of reports of seeing it in a 4inch frac. Sorry, I'm not sure what size your scope is AN. It's cool knowing those photons hitting your retinas left that length of time ago... 👍

61mm frac.

[bluesman]

Ah right, a tad difficult visually then... 😊

[Astro Noodles]

1 minute ago, bluesman said:

Ah right, a tad difficult visually then... 😊

Capturing the object was easy enough as 61mm F5.9 gives a wide field. Finding the object in the resulting image was much more challenging. 😄

[Astro Noodles]

I've tried to get my head around this. The light we are seeing now left 3C 273 2.4 billion years ago. Am I correct if I say that light emitted from the object now will take 4.6 billion years to reach my camera sensor?