23 replies to this topic

[Maurice Toet]

A focal length of 500 mm is actually a little short for galaxy imaging, but M106 is rather large and a 180 mm mirror yields a large resolution. Total integration time almost 7 hours (415 minutes). Imaged with the Epsilon-180ED and Canon EOS 5D Mark II (Baader modded) at ISO 1600 (5 min. subs). February 25 & 26, 2017, Les Granges, Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, France (SQM 21.4 - 21.6).

 

The following images are crops of the actual FOV. Best to view in full-res on my website.

 

 

 

 

 

[GoFish]

Nice!  Thanks for posting. 

[james7ca]

Very nice with good color and a sharp field. Would you consider getting a few shorter exposures to help with the center core detail?

Edited by james7ca, 05 March 2017 - 11:43 AM.

[ismosi]

That is an exquisite image. The full size is teeming with faint galaxies. Thanks for posting it!

[whwang]

very beautiful!

[scopenitout]

Maurice, I love this beautiful image you have shared. The framing is perfect.

[Pete_xl]

Super! Thank you for posting!

[AKHalea]

Awesome image of the whole area with many tiny galaxies popping up! Thanks for sharing ..... Anil

[17.5Dob]

Very nice with perfect star colors.

[jakob1234]

Beautiful image!

[Maurice Toet]

Thank you for your comments. The Epsilon keeps surprising me; the image holds more details than I suspected.

 

Would you consider getting a few shorter exposures to help with the center core detail?

 

I don't think there's much more to gain, do you? A longer focal length would help to fill in more details, though. Or maybe an H-alpha blend to bring out the emission nebulas. 

[Emanuel]

Awesome job Maurice. Thanks for sharing 

[james7ca]

Thank you for your comments. The Epsilon keeps surprising me; the image holds more details than I suspected.

 

Would you consider getting a few shorter exposures to help with the center core detail?

 

I don't think there's much more to gain, do you? A longer focal length would help to fill in more details, though. Or maybe an H-alpha blend to bring out the emission nebulas. 

The largest part of the core is more than fine, but I'm talking about the very center of the core, which seems to be almost featureless. You may already have data for that, maybe a tweak in the processing would add some tone to that area. In fact, it is so minor that it could come down to a question of opinion, that being would it look best to have the core very, very bright (almost featureless) or with slightly more density.

 

In any case, it's a very fine image as it stands.

Edited by james7ca, 05 March 2017 - 09:51 PM.

[jambroseus]

Love it! Color, contrast and resolution is great, don't change a thing!

 

John

[Maurice Toet]

Thanks for the clarification, james7ca. I've just checked the raw data, but the core is already blown out in the linear file. Therefore I think I'll leave it as it is ;-)

 

@jambroseus, also thanks for your comment. Glad you like it. 

[skycamper]

Insane image Maurice,  on the image in your provided link just to the lower left of the main M106 there are tiny dots clustered there and pretty much thoughout your image that border on "not star like".......are these tiny galaxies that are more distant?  I guess I could do more resarch but im working right now and cant wait to know.   LOL......my favorite area of the sky is this right here.   I'll be following this thread tonight!!  Ive not seen an image this deep on this subject especially with NGC4217 as part of it.

Abraham

Portland OR USA

[Maurice Toet]

Thanks skycamper. Indeed, lots of galaxies can be seen in this image. There are, however, even deeper images of this area of the sky. An excellent example (captured with a CCD camera) is this one by Fabian Neyer (featured on APOD on 16 January 2016). He's very good at extraction faint details out of his data. In fact, that's one of his goals in pursuing signs of activity between galaxies (intergalactic structures, stellar tidal streams).    

[aacc66]

Excellent image.  Thanks for sharing.  

 

Alvaro

 

[skycamper]

Maurice,

I was flipping between your image and the Fabians image and trying to see how similar they are and what could be seen.  Then I'd flip to my image and thought maybe Mickey mouse was taking it.  LOL.   Really stunning image,  Could explore your photos for awhile!  I'd really like to see NGC4217 at F10 in a larger scope but have only seen that one other time.

 

Not exactly a Widefield target!! 

[kkennardis]

That image is superb, well done.  There is a lot going on in that image, thanks for sharing.

[jhayes_tucson]

Wow.  Very well done!

 

John

[Ron359]

Outstanding image!   What do you use for processing?   

[Maurice Toet]

Thanks again. I use PixInsight for calibration / pre-processing. Post-processing is done in Photoshop CC. 

[jimegger]

Excellent image - lots of neat galaxies in there and sharp too !