Galaxy Quest

**Mystical Potato Head** · 25-Jan-09, 20:04

Hope to add a few more to this thread now that its "galaxy hunting season"

M51,The Whirpool Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici.
approx 37 million l.years away
100,000 l.years in diameter.

**Deemac** · 25-Jan-09, 20:27

Fantastic image MPH. Did you get this last night while freezing out in the garden? It looked like a great star sky out here (appart from the cold!!)

**Mystical Potato Head** · 25-Jan-09, 21:02

Yes Deemac,i had a few hours out in the cold but at least there was no wind,still freezing though,just as well i was working today or i probably would have stayed out all night or until i ran out of batteries.

**wifie** · 25-Jan-09, 21:07

Oh worth braving the cold MPH - lookin forward to more!

**tjc** · 25-Jan-09, 22:25

Amazing shot MPH...

You know your stuff.

**Mystical Potato Head** · 25-Jan-09, 22:30

NGC4565 in Coma Berenices.
approx 50million l.years away and one of the best examples of
an edge on spiral galaxy.

**wifie** · 25-Jan-09, 22:56

Wow amazing!

**tjc** · 25-Jan-09, 23:25

Nuff said.

**wifie** · 26-Jan-09, 00:19

OK MPH you told us about blue, yellow and red - what about green? These are green aren't they? Lovely colour btw!

**Kenn** · 26-Jan-09, 01:07

I really should brush up on what I am seeing in the night sky,my knowledge is woeful
Great images MPH.

**nirofo** · 26-Jan-09, 02:55

Originally Posted by wifie

OK MPH you told us about blue, yellow and red - what about green? These are green aren't they? Lovely colour btw!

They certainly look green to me!

nirofo.

**wifie** · 26-Jan-09, 12:36

Originally Posted by nirofo

They certainly look green to me!

nirofo.

Emm, I do hope that was not sarcasm nirofo. I asked the queston incase it was some sort of optical illusion I was seeing - but yeah it did sound thick!

**North Light** · 26-Jan-09, 13:38

MPH,
A stunning couple of photo's, I am also very impressed with your dedication, a couple of hours on a cold frosty night! I thought I was keen, but I'm obviously not that keen!

**nirofo** · 26-Jan-09, 15:11

Originally Posted by wifie

Emm, I do hope that was not sarcasm nirofo. I asked the queston incase it was some sort of optical illusion I was seeing - but yeah it did sound thick!

Sorry, it was meant to endorse your colour perception as some monitors do not display correct colour if not set up correctly! I set mine up every 2 weeks using a DataCentre Colorvision Spyder Colorimeter, this gives you a calibrated universally accepted colour correct monitor screen.

nirofo.

**wifie** · 26-Jan-09, 15:53

Wow nirofo - impressed. Sorry I doubted you!

**Mystical Potato Head** · 26-Jan-09, 19:01

You dont get green stars Wifie.The official star spectrums and temperatures are

Blue 45 000 degC
Blue/White 30 000
White 12 000
Yellow/White 8 000
Yellow 6 500
Orange 5 000
Red 3 000

The one problem i have is using a light pollution filter which can give false colours especially when trying to enhance the contrast of extremely faint objects.
The Whirpool Galaxy image looks ok but NGC 4565 is falsly blue/green in the center and there is also a greenish gradient to the right of the image caused by the fact i had to shoot right over the top of a street light to get it so some of the stars are showing a false green colour.The filters are good but some lp gets through when you are shooting almost straight into sodium lightsAlso when near the horizon stars change colour more than higher stars due to the earths atmosphere and the pollution in it so its easy to pick up false colour....sorry cant do much about it

If i take an image of it in 2 months time when it will be much higher in the sky the colour will be different and also will be able to image at twice the magnification with a barlow lens
which will make it brighter as well.
I could aways shoot them in B&W to avoid any confusion,wouldn't want to mislead anyone.
Personally i like colour and if its the wrong colour,well who actuall knows what colour it should be?

Look up the whirlpool galaxy in google images and see the different colours different imagers get,these are seriously long exposures done by computer guiding and the colour variations are quite surprising,which one is the true colour though?

**Mystical Potato Head** · 26-Jan-09, 19:17

Originally Posted by LIZZ

I really should brush up on what I am seeing in the night sky,my knowledge is woeful
Great images MPH.

Good on ya Lizz,wont be able to see these though,in fact i couldn't see the two galaxies i've posted in this thread through the scope either!

**wifie** · 26-Jan-09, 20:54

Thank you MPH - I will google and see! I always enjoy your explanations and information!

**Mystical Potato Head** · 26-Jan-09, 22:11

Originally Posted by North Light

MPH,
A stunning couple of photo's, I am also very impressed with your dedication, a couple of hours on a cold frosty night! I thought I was keen, but I'm obviously not that keen!

Is it dedication or stupitidy,it was stupidity tonight as i spent the last hour hunting for a certain galaxy and failed to find it.Took about 20 shots in the area i thought it was in
but no galaxy to be seen.Will go back out after 24 has finished.