ASTRO: Elliptical Galaxies NGC 3379 (M-105) & NGC 3384; Spiral Galaxy NGC 3389

This exposure was 30 minutes total of LRGB using an SBIG STL-1301E camera
thru an OGS 20-inch F/8.1 RC Cassegrain. The field of view is about 13x16
arc minutes with North at the top. Poor seeing prevailed the night I took
this one. I find processing elliptical galaxies to be one of the toughest
object types because of the great brightness range from the nucleus out.

These galaxies are in the "Leo Spur", a nearby group of galaxies about 32
million light-years away and roughly in the direction of the Virgo cluster.
For more info on M-105 and its companions, see:
http://www.kopernik.org/images/archive/m105.htm

On the same night as I took this image I had shown this group and its
neighbors M-95 and M-96 to at least two dozen people. All three galaxies fit
into the field of a Meade 40mm SuperWide eyepiece on the 20RC and are pretty
easy to see. The Spiral is dimmer than the two ellipticals, but is still an
easy visual sight in the 20.

Also see this interesting HST page about black holes in the center of
galaxies, including an image of the core of M-105:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/arc...eases/1997/01/

George Normandin

George Normandin wrote:

This exposure was 30 minutes total of LRGB using an SBIG STL-1301E camera
thru an OGS 20-inch F/8.1 RC Cassegrain. The field of view is about 13x16
arc minutes with North at the top. Poor seeing prevailed the night I took
this one. I find processing elliptical galaxies to be one of the toughest
object types because of the great brightness range from the nucleus out.

These galaxies are in the "Leo Spur", a nearby group of galaxies about 32
million light-years away and roughly in the direction of the Virgo cluster.
For more info on M-105 and its companions, see:
http://www.kopernik.org/images/archive/m105.htm

On the same night as I took this image I had shown this group and its
neighbors M-95 and M-96 to at least two dozen people. All three galaxies fit
into the field of a Meade 40mm SuperWide eyepiece on the 20RC and are pretty
easy to see. The Spiral is dimmer than the two ellipticals, but is still an
easy visual sight in the 20.

Also see this interesting HST page about black holes in the center of
galaxies, including an image of the core of M-105:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/arc...eases/1997/01/

George Normandin


It seems hardly worth the effort of color for ellipticals they just
don't have any. Big boring blobs of staid stars. If there's any action
it's usually due to a black hole at the center (M87 for instance).
Though there is a hint of a small bar in 3384.

At least when your seeing goes bad you still have round stars. My bad
seeing is usually due to warm air rising off the warmer lake surface and
it elongates stars vertically. You can tell how tilted the camera is,
far from the meridian, by the tilt of the elongation. In winter the ice
is always warmer than the night air due to the 32 degree water below it
and in the summer it is again warmer than the night air as it is a huge
heat sink holding the heat while the night cools rapidly. Only this
time of the year or in the fall that I seem to get nights of good seeing
when the water is colder than the night air when the water is right at
32 but the nights above freezing. Then that stream of warm air up my
bank and by the observatory is not there making for good seeing much of
the time -- if the jet stream isn't hanging around.

Rick
--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Very good picture George. These three make a nice group.

Stefan

"George Normandin" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
This exposure was 30 minutes total of LRGB using an SBIG STL-1301E camera
thru an OGS 20-inch F/8.1 RC Cassegrain. The field of view is about 13x16
arc minutes with North at the top. Poor seeing prevailed the night I took
this one. I find processing elliptical galaxies to be one of the toughest
object types because of the great brightness range from the nucleus out.

These galaxies are in the "Leo Spur", a nearby group of galaxies about 32
million light-years away and roughly in the direction of the Virgo
cluster. For more info on M-105 and its companions, see:
http://www.kopernik.org/images/archive/m105.htm

On the same night as I took this image I had shown this group and its
neighbors M-95 and M-96 to at least two dozen people. All three galaxies
fit into the field of a Meade 40mm SuperWide eyepiece on the 20RC and are
pretty easy to see. The Spiral is dimmer than the two ellipticals, but is
still an easy visual sight in the 20.

Also see this interesting HST page about black holes in the center of
galaxies, including an image of the core of M-105:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/arc...eases/1997/01/

George Normandin