M87 - relativistic jet

[Richard N]

I wondered if it would be possible to see M87's relativistic jet with my 80mm scope. I can rarely observe M87 but tonight I gave it a go. And SUCCESS - I can see the relativistic jet. Here is my image and below is an ultraviolet image from the Sloan Deep Sky Survey. Very pleased with this!

 

[Vroobel]

Well done, congrats! 🤩

[Fir Chlis]

Very good. You've inspired my to go and have a look at my M87 from a few nights ago and, to my surprise, I've got it too! Here's a crop from my live stack of 39x8s frames stacked in SharpCap, just about visible emanating in the 5 o'clock direction from the core. Could do with a revisit to try for a better image. Some post processing might pull it out a bit better, but this is as seen.

Skywatcher 200PDS on Skywatcher HEQ5Pro with ASI585MC, SharpCap 4.1

Geoff

Edited April 14 by Fir Chlis

[Vroobel]

Goog job as well! 👍

Guys, you didn't mention your setups, could you update it please? 😊

[Fir Chlis]

6 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

Goog job as well! 👍

Guys, you didn't mention your setups, could you update it please? 😊

Done. I should update my signature with my gear. 😀
 

Cheers

 

Geoff

[Vroobel]

2 minutes ago, Fir Chlis said:

I should update my signature with my gear. 😀

That's not too informative if you have more than one scope, camera, etc. 😉

[Richard N]

1 hour ago, Vroobel said:

Goog job as well! 👍

Guys, you didn't mention your setups, could you update it please? 😊

80mm ED scope. GP290M camera. 

[Richard N]

1 hour ago, Fir Chlis said:

Very good. You've inspired my to go and have a look at my M87 from a few nights ago and, to my surprise, I've got it too! Here's a crop from my live stack of 39x8s frames stacked in SharpCap, just about visible emanating in the 5 o'clock direction from the core. Could do with a revisit to try for a better image. Some post processing might pull it out a bit better, but this is as seen.

Skywatcher 200PDS on Skywatcher HEQ5Pro with ASI585MC, SharpCap 4.1

Geoff

Very nice. More resolution in your image than in mine as expected. 200mm vs 80mm. 80mm is approaching the lower limit to see this under most conditions I expect. 

[Vroobel]

I'll try to capture it with 10" 1285mm Newtonian. 

[Richard N]

40 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

I'll try to capture it with 10" 1285mm Newtonian. 

Should be very simple; even relatively easy...😀 it's one of those exotic things that can actually be seen with very modest gear. Gravitationally lensed quasars being another. Quite exciting seeing these sorts of things from a suburban backyard. I have another interesting object in mind that should also be possible. Probably an Autumn target.

[Vroobel]

Yeah, it must be exciting if we take the power causing the jet into account. 😳 So unique and mind-smashing things captured from Bortle 9 backyard are impressive. I had similar feelings when captured a trace of the James Webb Space Telescope. 😊

[Richard N]

6 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

Yeah, it must be exciting if we take the power causing the jet into account. 😳 So unique and mind-smashing things captured from Bortle 9 backyard are impressive. I had similar feelings when captured a trace of the James Webb Space Telescope. 😊

These are very much objects for the enthusiast. They don't look remotely interesting in themselves. It's knowing what they are that makes them so special to see.

[PeterC65]

I've also made a note to give this a go. M87 isn't a galaxy I've observed so far as I just assumed it would be another fuzzy blob!

 

[M40]

At last,a clear night so had to have a go at M87. This is using a stellamira 125, heq5 with a zwo asi290mm, 30 x 10 seconds and a simple screen grab.