Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  HD275158  ·  HD275161  ·  IC 1907  ·  NGC 1267  ·  NGC 1268  ·  NGC 1270  ·  NGC 1271  ·  NGC 1272  ·  NGC 1273  ·  NGC 1274  ·  NGC 1275  ·  NGC 1276  ·  NGC 1277  ·  NGC 1278  ·  NGC 1279  ·  NGC 1281  ·  NGC 1282  ·  NGC 1283  ·  Perseus A
Deep imaging of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, KuriousGeorge
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Deep imaging of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster

Deep imaging of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, KuriousGeorge
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Deep imaging of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster

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This deep image of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster was taken from Julian, CA during an unusually steady period in 21.2 SQM skies.

The 44 x 15 minute L exposures had FWHM between 1.3" and 2.4" with a 1.8" average and .3" standard deviation. I see this occur less than 10 days a year, usually right after low clouds dissipate.

I took a few hours of both Ha and OIII to see if anything might be there. Nothing was seen in OIII, but I noticed very faint Ha bands. 72 x 15 minute Ha exposures helped uncover these bands after continuum subtraction of R. I see Franklin Marek (on Astrobin) also uncovered these Ha bands with his 10" Newtonian.

I'm particularly pleased with the resolution obtained on several galaxies, including NGC1275.

NGC1277, also seen here, has been called a "relic of the early universe" due to its stars being formed during a 100 million year interval about 12 billion years ago. Stars were formed at a rate of 1000 times that of the Milky Way galaxy's formation rate in a short burst of time. After this process of stellar formation ran its course, NGC 1277 was left populated with metal-rich stars that are about 7 billion years older than the Sun. It is still uncertain whether or not NGC 1277 is a "relic galaxy"; current studies are still researching the possibility. However, observations with Hubble Space Telescope indicate that NGC 1277 lacks metal-poor globular clusters, suggesting that it has accreted little mass over its lifetime and supporting the relic galaxy hypothesis.

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Deep imaging of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, KuriousGeorge

In these public groups

ASI 6200 MM Pro