Rick,

the new version looks even better than the old one, so it wasn't too bad ;-)

Stefan


"WA0CKY" schrieb im Newsbeitrag ...


I got bit by the Tower of Babble yet again. I took this field back in
2009 but put it under NGC 2334 for some reason (it is in the field --
maybe). So it never got taken off the to-do list and was taken again
this January. It wasn't until after processing when I was looking for
other images of the field and the first color image Google turned up was
my long forgotten and then misfiled image! I hate it when I'm the only
"authority" I can find. Why I as looking is that sources that turn DSS
images into color images show all the galaxies in this field as blue yet
they are classified as elliptical or S0 making me wonder if my color was
off. But the new image agrees with the old one as to color but is a bit
sharper and deeper so I'll consider it an unintentional retake. Besides
it was already processed when I found the duplication. The 2009 image is
at http://tinyurl.com/gtl644d

NGC 2340 is the largest and brightest member of the WBL 133 galaxy group
located about 275 million light-years away in the constellation of Lynx
and not far from the far larger Abell 569. The group contains some 13
members though not all are within my image. As with most groups the
members are mostly elliptical and S0 galaxies and thus showing the
orange-gold color of old stars due to the lack of new star formation.
Apparently these galaxies have so interacted with other members of the
group that the dust and gas needed for star formation has been stripped
from them leaving them to slowly redden and fade away. NGC 2340 is a
giant elliptical. As it just fades away in my image without any obvious
edge I had to pick an arbitrary end point which gives it a diameter of
over 300,000 light-years

The spherical galaxy to the upper left of NGC 2340 is IC 465 and maybe
also NGC 2334. Why the "maybe"? Seems there's lots of problems with
the visual observations that created the NGC catalog. This is one of
them. Since the catalog is numbered in RA order (at the time of the
catalog, precession has changed things somewhat since then when looking
at galaxies today on opposite sides of the sky) it should be west of NGC
2340 not east. This is the first hint that something may be wrong. For
further information I'll refer you to Dr. Corwin's discussion at the NGC
catalog. http://www.ngcicproject.org/dss/dss_n2300.asp Scroll down to
NGC 2334 and click on the data button then scroll down that window for
the lengthy discussion.

The large elliptical near the right edge nearly directly west of NGC
2340 is NGC 2332. Below it is IC 457 which may or may not be NGC 2330.
This problem is included in the lengthy discussion of IC 465/NGC 2334 in
the above link.

There are some other ID problems in this image. IC 462 is just a blue
star. Could it be the observer saw the nearby galaxy but got the
position of the star by mistake? That was my explanation in 2009.
Since then I've found that the galaxy was too faint for the scope used
but could have blended with the star to make the star appear very
slightly fuzzy. The position however is for the star not the galaxy
which is PGC 2365343.

Then there's the blue object I've identified as a Seyfert 1 galaxy at
1.97 billion light-years. In 2009 I called it a quasar, [VCV2001]
J071006.8+500245. NED shows many different catalog entries for it.
One, the one I used in 2009, says it is a quasar. Another, the one used
this time, calls it a galaxy (RX J0710.0+5002 ID) as well as an X-ray
source. It's shown as an IR source in the 2MASS catalog (2MASSi
J0710068+500246). It is also listed in several radio catalogs. It
certainly is using most of the spectrum. It's strong blue color is
common to quasars. Apparently it is still being debated just what this
object is. NED is coming down on the side of galaxy so that's what I
used but since the active core blots out the galaxy as is usually what
happens with most quasars I'm not convinced.

Another galaxy that got my attention this time but didn't in 2009 is IC
460 up and right of NGC 2340. Its core is off center to the leFt
leaving a dark gap in the ring that seems to encircle the galaxy. It is
listed as E/S0: but sure appears to have a bar though spindle S0
galaxies can give that appearance. With the off center core it appears
to have been "sloshed" with NGC 2340 a likely candidate though I found
nothing on this so it's only my supposition.

While most IC galaxies had redshift data IC 463 didn't hence the
question mark where I'd normally put the distance. As a member of the
WBL 133 group it's likely safe to assume it is at about the same
distance as the others. Though it could be a huge member of the group
in the field at over 800 million light-years.

I've been complaining for months now about horrid transparency when I
have better seeing but it appears this image has both better
transparency and seeing than I did back in 2009.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=4x10' RGB=2x10', STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick


--
WA0CKY