M94 just got bigger :-)

[NickH]

The hidden arms of M94

Good stuff this!

[russ]

You're right Nick, very good stuff indeed.

[NickH]

Check out his images...

Different ballgame when you have a 0.5m scope

[russ]

I have his images as a bookmark.....amazing, eye popping stuff!

[barkis]

Very interesting indeed, and how wonderful when the pros. turn to the amateur for help. As an amateur, he has done some extraordinary stuff Mr GaBany. One of the world finest AP's.

Praise indeed, and obviously justified.

Ron.

[themos]

“Over a period of three and a half years, I continued to enhance my image.."

Wouldn't it have been better to just get a few more subs in?

[lunator]

I saw this It's an awesome image

I wonder what it means in relations to dark matter?

Cheers

Ian

[Keith Cooper]

I saw this It's an awesome image

I wonder what it means in relations to dark matter?

Cheers

Ian

I hear what you're saying about dark matter, but in the scientific paper the team put together they say that the total stellar mass of the outer arms is around 15 billion solar masses, which is about a quarter of the total mass of all the stars in M94. I can't recall the exact figures off the top of my head but our Milky Way is even bigger and has at least 250 billion solar masses worth of stars, and about three times as much dark matter in the halo, if not more. It's roughly the same ratio in other spiral galaxies, so this extra outer disc in M94 actually doesn't make that big a dent in its total mass; there's still plenty of dark matter there.

It is an amazing picture from Jay though. Just amazing. The next time you look at M94 through the eyepiece, just think about how much of the galaxy you're not seeing!

[lunator]

I hear what you're saying about dark matter, but in the scientific paper the team put together they say that the total stellar mass of the outer arms is around 15 billion solar masses, which is about a quarter of the total mass of all the stars in M94. I can't recall the exact figures off the top of my head but our Milky Way is even bigger and has at least 250 billion solar masses worth of stars, and about three times as much dark matter in the halo, if not more. It's roughly the same ratio in other spiral galaxies, so this extra outer disc in M94 actually doesn't make that big a dent in its total mass; there's still plenty of dark matter there.

It is an amazing picture from Jay though. Just amazing. The next time you look at M94 through the eyepiece, just think about how much of the galaxy you're not seeing!

Hi Keith

Thanks for that. It is amazing to know what can be seen when we 'look hard' at a well known object and I am curious to know what we could see if we looked even harder

Cheers

Ian

[NickH]

I know what I am pointing the scopes in Spain at.... let's put it that way!

Brilliant image..

[Milliways]

Whoa! pretty cool lol what else have we missed!

[Beyond_Vision]

Superb work and what an amazing collection of images

Regards

Kevin

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Excellent stuff. Professional astronomers often turn to amateurs for help (think of irregular variable stars such as R CRB). This is just another great example. It reminds me of the extensive neutral hydrogen spiral arms found by the WSRT in e.g. M81 in the past. I wonder if such arms are know for M94, and if they line up with these new optical arms.