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Showing posts with label galaxy images. Show all posts
Showing posts with label galaxy images. Show all posts

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Messier galaxies, M81-M82, with integrated flux nebula


A new collaboration image with David Lane. Beside beeing a deep sky astrophotographer he is also a master of landscape astrophotographing, please, have a look at his homepage: http://www.davelaneastrophotography.com/

Image acquisition is made by David Lane. He sent a massive amount of data to me to process and here is the result, Messier galaxies 81 and 82 with a large amount of  dim integrated flux nebula at front of them.
Total exposure time is around 40 hours with the William Optics GT81 telescope and SBIG STL-1100 3 CCD-camera. 



Messier 81 and 82 with an integrated flux nebula
Click for a large photo

So dusty, don't they ever clean up there...


An experimental starless photo
Click for a large photo

Brighter dots in this starless image are more distant galaxies


 A horizontal composition
Click for a large photo

A better resolution photo

Technical details

Data acquisition, David Lane
Image processing, J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow

Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 33% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.

Imaging optics
 William Optics GT81

Camera
SBIG STL-1100 3 CCD

Exposure times
Total ~40h






Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Messier 31, M31, the Great Galaxy of Andromeda


Another collaboration image, this time with David Lane. He is also a master of landscape astrophotographing, please, have a look at his homepage: http://www.davelaneastrophotography.com/ 

Image acquisition is made by David Lane. He sent a massive amount of data to me to process and here is the first result, the Great Galaxy of Andromeda with 37 hours of exposure time.


Messier 31, M31, the Galaxy of Andromeda 
Click for a large image

A deep H-alpha boosted LRGB exposure of the Galaxy of Andromeda


Large resolution detail from the image above
Click for a large image

Dust lanes of Andromeda


A starless view
Click for a large image

This photo shows the M31 as it was seen just outside of our home galaxy, the Milky way. All the stars in the first photo are located in Our galaxy at maximum distance of few tens of thousands light years. M31 lies at distance of about 2.5 million light years. There is 2.5 million light years of nothing between us and Messier 31. Dim dots at the starless image are more distant galaxies and some hundred of globular cluster associated to M31 galaxy .


A vertical composition of M31

A poster format view to the M31


INFO

The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light years from Earth. It is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.

The Milky Way and Andromeda are expected to collide in 3.75 billion years, eventually merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy or perhaps a large disk galaxy.

At 3.4, the apparent magnitude of the Andromeda Galaxy is one of the brightest of any of the Messier objects, making it visible to the naked eye on moonless nights even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution. It has an apparent diameter of six times as wide as the full Moon


An experimental test

This funny looking image is just stretched vertically to try to show the actual round shape of the galaxy.
It looks like a barred spiral to me.


Technical details

Data acquisition, David Lane
Image processing, J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow

Deconvolution with a CCDStack2 Positive Constraint, 27 iterations, added at 33% weight
Color combine in PS CS3
Levels and curves in PS CS3.

Imaging optics
 William Optics GT81

Camera
SBIG STL-1100 3 CCD

Exposure times
Luminance, 18h
H-alpha, 1h
Red = ~6h
Green = ~6h
Blue = ~6h
Total 37h





Monday, July 25, 2011

An edge on galaxy, NGC4565, apparent scale in a sky





I have shot many targets with several focal lengths. 
Due that, I will publish some of my material as an image sets, with different field of view and detail levels.
The fractal nature of our universe stands out nicely by this way and it will make the orientation more easy.

Many times, it's difficult to understand the image scale of astronomical images.
Due that, I will add a Moon circle in some of the images to show the angular scale in a sky. 
The full Moon has an angular size of ~30 arc minutes, that's equal to ~0,5 degrees. 


NGC 4565
An edge on galaxy in constellation Coma Berenicest

A broad band RGB-image of NGC 4565

I don't have too many galaxy images around, since I'm shooting from under a heavy light pollution .

Two images are used for the series above
  1. A gray scale image with a Canon EF 200mm f1.8@1.8 camera lens and the QHY9 cooled gray scale astronomical camera.
  2. A color image with a Meade LX200 GPS 12" and QHY8 cooled single shot color camera.
Links to an original material from top to bottom



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

NGC 300







NGC 300, the spiral galaxy in constellation Sculptor, distance is about 6 million light years.

 It's likely, that NGC300 and NGC55 forms a gravitationally bound pair.
I have shot NGC 55, an irregular galaxy, ealier and it can be found here:
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/2010/09/ngc-55-irregular-galaxy-in.html

Image of NGC 55
"NGC300 and NGC55 forms a gravitationally bound pair."

Surface brightness is lowish and this image gave me a hard time when processing the raw data. I tried to keep a "diffused" look of it. Active parts of this galaxy can be seen as a Blue and Red areas in a spiral arms.


A closeup


Technical details:

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo. An Australian remote telescope
5x1200s for the Luminance and 2x600s / RGB-channel . Dark, Bias and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations, added at 50% weight.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

Something extra in my image

A bright trail trough a single raw frame of NGC 300.

A closeup, there is odd looking pattern inside of trail.


Mystery was solved by a help from Bert Candusio, the administrator of Northern Galactic group.
Object seen in the image is a geocentric satellite COSMOS 1536.
Thank you Bert.


Sunday, October 3, 2010

NGC 1365, the "Great Barred Spiral Galaxy"







NGC 1365, the "Great Barred Spiral Galaxy" locates in constellation Fornax about 61 million light years away. This is an enormous galaxy, 200.000 light years across, one of the larges galaxies known by astronomers.




Technical details:

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo. An Australian remote telescope
10x600s for the Luminance and 6x600s / RGB-channel . Dark, Bias and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NGC 55, irregular galaxy in constellation Sulptor



Note. Color balance edited 16.09.

NGC 55, barred irregular galaxy in constellation Sculptor. Distance about 7 million light years.



Closeup

When I was stacking the Luminance channel of NGC55, I noticed two moving objects in a field.
I made animations of them to show the movement. It could be nice to know, what they are. When I'll find out,
I'll post the information here!
UPDATE
A friend in Finnish astronomical group, "Astronetti", found the information for objects by using the "Minor Planet Checker"  Here is the information for both objects:

Object designation         R.A.           Decl.         V       Offsets          Motion/hr   Orbit  Further observations?
 (20031) 1992 OO         00 14 06.8  -39 17 11  15.7   9.0W    5.4S    20-    35-   12o  None needed at this time.
 
  2005 UD530               00 13 51.8  -39 13 53  19.7  11.9W   2.1S    33-     0+    3o  Desirable between 2010 Sept.            
  15-Oct. 15.


Animated areas are marked in this single 600s luminance frame.

Information:
Location, Brisbane Australia
Date, 14.09.2010
Time Zone, UTC +10h
The animation has13 x 600s frames, taken between 10:25 and 13:31 UTC.



The whole field animated showing both moving objects. First object at Two a clock position and the second one at Eight a clock position.


Closeup animation of first object.



An animated closeup of the second object.


It's always fascinating to see something moving in a deep space! An other part of fun is trying to find out, what it might be.


Technical details:

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo. An Australian remote telescope
13x600s for the Luminance and 3x600s / RGB-channel . Dark, Bias and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

A general note:
Seeing was really bad during the imaging sequence, FWHM varied between 8" -5,5"

Saturday, September 11, 2010

NGC 253, the "Silver Dollar" galaxy




A spiral galaxy in constellation Sculptor.

This galaxy is undergoing a period of intense star formation. Areas with a Blueish hue, are most active regions of the star formation. This is a nearby galaxy, distance is "only"  about 11 million light years.
Largish target, apparent dimensions are, 27,5' x 6,8'. Longer axis is almost as wide as a full Moon (30')


A closeup to show the actual resolution. Note. there is hundreds of dim background galaxies in the image.



Technical details:

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo. An Australian remote telescope
14x600s for the Luminance and 2x600s / RGB-channel . Dark, Bias and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Galaxy NGC 613




NGC 613, barred spiral galaxy in southern constellation Sculptor. 
Distance is about 65 million light years. Image is a broadband LRGB-composition.
This target has a smallish angular diameter, about 5,5' x 4,2'. I might try this one again with a better seeing, at this time seeing was about 3,5" FWHM.


The telescope:




Close up


Technical details:

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo.
9x600s for the Luminance and 1x600s / RGB-channel . Dark and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

NGC 4945, Finalized




NGC 4945, edge on spiral Galaxy in constellation Centaurus.

I was able to finalize this version, since I now have all the needed calibration images, Dark, Bias and Flat frames. This beautiful, large, edge on galaxy is overlooked, since there is two showpieces at neighborhood, M83 and the Centaurus A.

NGC 4945, imaged with a Northern Galactic members remote telescope in Australia,

 Technical details




16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo.
22x300s for the Luminance and 4x300s / RGB-channel . Dark and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared by Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Final version of M104, the "Sombrero galaxy"





M104, imaged with a Northern Galactic members remote telescope in Australia,

Final version of the Northern Galaxy members remote telescopes personal first light, Sombrero galaxy, M104.
Now all the sub exposures are Dark- and Flat-frame calibrated.

Close up.

Technical details

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo.
25x300s for the Luminance and 4x300s / RGB-channel . Dark and Flat calibrated.
Raw data is shared with Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.

Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

M 83, the "Southern Pinwheel"







M 83, in constellation Hydra, imaged with a Northern Galactic members remote telescope in Australia,  http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9HcYqbvUc4s/S-b4XGoaKCI/AAAAAAAAEVg/lmCuJMbTT-c/s1600/NGTelescopeL.jpg

16" RCOS ja Apogee U9000 camera. 
LRGB combo.
 Luminance 6x300s, Red 4x300s, Green 3x300s and Blue 3x300s. Dark calibrated, no flats.
Raw data is shared with Petri Kehusmaa and J-P Metsavainio

Processing workflow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v4.xxx
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.


Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Something new!




FIRST LIGHT
for Northern Galactic members telescope 


My first target was a M 104, the "Sombrero galaxy"

Note, image is kind of "preview", since all the calibration files are not yet taken.


I have been a member of Northern Galactic astronomical  group for some time now. Recently  they have opened up a possibility for members  to remote operate a great astronomical instrument in Australia.



This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to use a "never-ever-have-enough-money-for-it" instrument and secondly this is my first ever possibility to shoot from a dark location!

Technical details for M104 image:
Instrument information in an image.
Exposures
25x300s for the Luminance and 4x300s / RGB-channel
Only Dark frame calibrated, since Flats are not ready yet.


For me, it's very confusing to shoot from the Southern hemisphere, since the sky is rotating to wrong direction! Targets, and Sun, rice from West and go down to East.  Beside that, constellations are new to me.
I'm all thrilled!

Special thanks to Bert Candusio for making this possible for me!





Monday, March 15, 2010

An experimental M101 Galaxy

Galaxy in "natural" color. Narrowband channels are mixed to match visible spectrum. Red=80% H-alpha+20% S-II, Green=O-III and Blue=80% O-III+20% H-alpha to compensate otherwise missing H-beta.
Galaxy in HST-palette, Red=S-II, Green=H-a and Blue=O-III

It's a Galaxy season but since my light pollution is so bad, I'm not able to do good broad band imaging, needed for targets like Glaxies.
I made this experiment to see, if it's possible to shoot Glaxy with NB-filters, there is some Broad band luminance used, it's shot with a Hutech light pollution filter.

Kind of interesting to see, how emission areas pop up visually, there was strongish signal in H-a and S-II,
O-III was weaker but there was couple of srong O-III regions, they are seen as Blue in a HST-palette image. There was some very weak O-III signal in a largish area around the Galaxy core, it can barely seen as a Bluish hue in the both images.

Processing work flow:
Image acquisition, MaxiDL v5.07.
Stacked and calibrated in CCDStack.
Deconvolution with a CCDSharp, 30 iterations.
Levels, curves and color combine in PS CS3.
Broadband data is mixed to a narrowband channels in PS.

Telescope, Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f5
Camera, QHY9 Guiding, SXV-AO @ 10Hz
Image Scale, 0,75 arcseconds/pixel
Exposures,
H-alpha 10x1200s, binned 1x1
S-II 3x1200s binned 2x2
O-III 4x1200s binned 3x3
Luminance,
Hutec LP-filter 6x1200s

Plain narrowband images:

No broad band component, only H-a, S-II and O-III.
 Narrowband channels are mixed to match visible spectrum. Red=80% H-alpha+20% S-II, Green=O-III and Blue=80% O-III+20% H-alpha to compensate otherwise missing H-beta.

No broad band component, only H-a, S-II and O-III.
Galaxy in HST-palette, Red=S-II, Green=H-a and Blue=O-III

Friday, March 27, 2009

NGC4565

An other funny Galaxy shot from the night of 23.03. This wide field precentation, with Canon EF 200mm f1.8 @1.8, shows lots of Space around the NGC4565. Waste of space? Maybe, but I think this composition gives a feel about the dimensions of the Space. The field of view is about five degrees wide. - Same equipments, than in previous post. Exposures 7x150s.
-
here is my previous image of the same galaxy, taken with a longer FL instrument.

Leo Trio

Image labeled with MaximDL planetarium
A grop from the center of the image.
Not a bad resolution for a 200mm lens.
-
I shot this one 23.03 for optical configuration calibration purposes.
The 200mm les is not a right tool for tiny glaxies, this is a sharp one though.
-
Image turned to be kind of nice, so I post it here.
-
A Blink animation to show just Galxies.
(Klick the image to see it.)
If could see this area from outside of our home Galaxy, it'll looks like a Starless one.
All the faint dots in the supressed image, are the other Galaxies!
-
Details; -Camera, QHY9 - Optics, Canon EF 200mm f1.8 @ 1.8 - Guiding, QHY5 and PHD-guiding - Platform, LX200 GPS 12" - Exposures, 17x150s with IDAS-LP filter, Darks, Flats and Bias frames calibrated.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, second edition

In this image of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, all the stars are deleted.
Only Galaxies are visible.
Picture gives an idea, what we might see, if we look this Galaxy Cluster outside of our Galaxy!
-
Here is a blink animation, please, klick the image to see it.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Virgo Cluster of Galaxies

At the same nigh, than previous Sharpless target, I shot this beautiful Galaxy Cluster in Virgo. I needed a data for calibrating my QHY9 and Canon 200mm EF f1.8 optics orthogonality. I didn't wait much about image, since 200mm lens has litle bit too wide for galaxys. After all, it turned to be a nice image, so I post it here too.
The cluster Labeled version, lots of stuff there!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

M106, update

Now it's over here, nights are not astronomically dark anymore.
- I managed to shoot 18.04. three more hours for M106. The outer halo is now somehow more visble but massive light pollution, in my location, eats out lots of it, IDAS LP filter helpped though.. _ I used longer subs, 1200s, for this secon tryout. 9 x 1200s = 3h - There is older subs, 8x900s from 17.04, combined to this new image, so there is 5h total exposure time used.
-
Same setup, than in previous post.
-
I'm very pleased to functionality of SXV-AO active optics unit.
Becouset of AO, many details can be seen in the core of the M106 galaxy.
Processing was difficult doe the gradients coused by LP.
There is some deconvolution and wavelets used in processing
to bring out details more cleary.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

NGC 2903

NGC 2903 is a barred spiral galaxy about 21 million light-years away
in constellation Leo.
_ _ IMAGING DETAILS - Optics: Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f6.3 - Camera: QHY8 - guiding: SXV-AO, active optics unit and LodeStar guider @ 11Hz - Exposures: 9 x 1200s+ Flats and Bias frames, no darks total exposure time 2h 15min.
- Filter: IDAS LP
-
UPDATE,
There was color channel error in the image.
Now colors are correct.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

NGC 4565

NGC 4565 (scaled down) Many faint galaxies can be seen in background.
-
This beautiful edge-on galaxy, in constellation Coma Berenices, has a unbarred spiral structure.
Distance from our home planet is about 53 milijon light-years.
-
Transparency was poor, but seeing better than usually in my location.
Result from that, is tighter stars and some details can be seen in the galaxy disc.
_
IMAGING DETAILS
-
Optics: Meade LX200 GPS 12" @ f6.3
-
Camera: QHY8
-
guiding: SXV-AO, active optics unit and LodeStar guider
-
Exposures: 8 x 1200s+ Flats and Bias frames, no darks total exposure time´2h. -
Filter: IDAS LP