Galaxies

NGC GALAXIES
	NGC 55 in Sculptor. One of the two large (close by) galaxies in this constellation. This one is way south and so imaging is difficult as it hardly clears the tree tops. At a distance of only 5 million light years, it is similar in structure to the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way. New star formation is low, probably because the Sculptor group is thinly populated and extra-galactic interaction is low. Image is an LRGB of 50:10:10:10 minutes at f/8
	NGC 210 in Cetus is a face on spiral galaxy with an extended core and surrounded by a faint halo. At magnitude 10.9 it is fairly bright, but what we like about this object is the small galaxy tucked by the arms and the magnitude 15.5 barred spiral MCG -2-2-82 to the lower right. This LRGB image is of 60:30:30:40 minutes with the C-14 Full resolution image (1.0Mb)
	NGC 253 - the other large galaxy in Sculptor. One of the reasons we built the observatory in Spain is because it makes it possible to observe objects which would never rise above the horizon in the UK. Only 8 million light years from us, this galaxy is 70,000 light years across and has an intrinsic magnitude just one less than our Milky Way. This image is an LRGB of 60:30:30:30minutes at f/5 in the Takahashi FSQ 106 scope and was taken in November 2007 Full resolution image (1.3Mb)
	The region around galaxy NGC 708 in Pegasus is littered with galaxies. In this image of the field you can see galaxies of all types, from the large to the small and from ellipticals to edge on spirals. This image is 60 minutes in white light using the C-14 telescope and ST8E camera. Full Resolution Image (0.6Mb)
	This negative image shows the names of some of the more significant galaxies in the field.
	NGC 891 in Andromeda. Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel, this galaxy is edge on to us and is suspected from infra-red studies to have a central bar - except of course that we can't see it. What we can see is the super dust lane. We have imaged this galaxy several times, including a recent attempt in monochrome only (for now). This shot with the C-14 is an LRGB of 60:30:30:30 minutes. Full Resolution Image (0.8Mb)
	Our most recent image of NGC 891, taken at our Spanish observatory in September 2006. For the eagle-eyed among you, try to spot the tiny Mitchell galaxy MAC 0222+4222 to the right of the galaxy center and a little below the galactic plane. This image is an LRGB of 60:40:40:40 taken with the C-14 and ST-8XE camera. Full resolution image (1.0Mb)
	NGC 1365 in Fornax. This fascinating barred spiral galaxy has been imaged by us before (see below), but it is such a super object that we thought we'd try again with the Tak. About as massive as the Milky Way and 40 million light years distant, NGC 1365 is part of the Fornax galaxy cluster. The bar contains many cooler, yellow stars, with blue stars and pink star forming regions in the arms. This image is an LRGB of 40:10:10:10 minutes at f/8 in the FSQ-106.
	IC 4617 - a tiny, magnitude 15.5 galaxy which showed up in a recent image of M13 (see Star Clusters). The galaxy can be seen at the 2-o-clock position near the top right corner of the image. This image was taken with our 4 inch Takahashi working at F5
	NGC 1365 - This is our latest image of this galaxy, taken with the C-14 at f/7. The low aspect of the galaxy in the southern sky makes NGC 1365 serious challenge to image properly. It is never very high in the sky and so it's tough to get a high enough signal to obtain a decent image. The galaxy is rated at magnitude 9.3 and the central bar is 4.5 minutes of arc long. Full Resolution Image (1.7Mb)
	NGC 2403 - nestled right up in the north near to Polaris - and it's pretty tough to get an equatorial mount to guide in that part of the sky. Liz and I shot this during Christmas 2003 and we were quite pleased with the result. This is also an LRGB of 60:30:30:40 minutes. Full Resolution Image (0.9Mb)
	NGC 2903 - An LRGB of 50:40:40:40 mins imaged from Spain on 24th March, 2008. This lovely galaxy is unusual in that it is unattached to any of the local galaxy groups - it's a loner. Around 31 million light years away it shines at magnitude 9.0 and has a luminosity of 19 billion suns. NGC 2903 is in the constellation of Leo and it is 110,000 light years in diameter. Full Resolution Image (3.3Mb)
	NGC 3628 - third in the "Leo Trio of galaxies, this edge on specimen in 32 million light years distant and gravitationally interacts with other galaxies in the trio. It is the faintest of the three, appearing as a thin, faint line in moderate aperture telescopes. Full Resolution Image (0.9Mb)
	NGC 4477 - A fascinating barred spiral in the northern part of the Virgo cluster. Imaged with the C-14 at f/7, this image was 60 minutes of luminance and ten minutes each of red, green and blue. If you look at the Virgo cluster photo towards the end of this list, 4477 is the tiny object to the lower left
	NGC 4449 - An interesting little irregular galaxy in Canes Venatici, this faint little chap shows bright starburst regions, and looks to me a little like a small insect
	NGC 4485 and NGC 4490 - Also in Canes Venatici, these two interacting galaxies show how one end of 4490 is distorted by gravitational interaction with 4485
	NGC 4565, a splendid edge-on galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices. This is one of the brightest members of the Coma I galaxy cloud and is about 31 million light years away. It is about 125,000 light years in diameter, and if it was face on to us it would be a really bright object. Note the prominent dust lane which runs the length of the galaxy. Full Resolution Image (0.7Mb)
	NGC 4656, a really weird galaxy interacting with the smaller galaxy NGC 4657 at the bright end. Located in Canes Venatici there is no apparent core, but several brighter concentrations, and the galaxy halo has a mottled texture. The south west extension becomes very faint with a brighter "knot" near the tip. This is an LRGB of 60:40:40:40 minutes imaged in southern Spain with the C14 and ST8 camera on 16th April 2007 . Full sized image (0.8Mb)
	NGC 4725 - An interesting barred spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. One of a series of objects imaged on 6th July, 2000 at Balmorhea State Park, Texas
	NGC 5128. This interesting object - not one of the more regularly viewed and imaged in the northern hemisphere - is one of the brightest radio frequency emitters in the sky. It is thought to be two or more galaxies colliding together and can be found immediately above Omega Centauri in the constellation of Centaurus. This image is a 1:1:1 RGB grayscale, plus processed 10 min luminance, and then with the 10 minute RGB components added back in
	NGC 5474 in Ursa Major. This bright galaxy is close to M101 and is classified in Megastar as an S(c) spiral. One glance at the image shows that it is very disrupted, with "standard" spiral arms to the right but with most of the opposite side stripped away, presumably through some sort of "encounter". Full sized image (1.8Mb)
	NGC 5746 - An edge-on barred spiral galaxy in Virgo, imaged at Balmorhea State Park, Texas on 6th July, 2000. This galaxy has a magnitude of only 11.3 but it has a bright central core
	NGC 5907 - another wonderful edge on spiral, this time in the constellation of Draco. Imaged in white light only on 14th August, 2001, this image is a stacked combination of eight 5 minute images. Telescope used was the FSQ-106 at f5 and the location was Terlingua Ranch, Texas. We plan to get the colors later!
	NGC 6643 in Draco. This interesting little galaxy has a sharply defined core and several knots of nebulosity in the spiral arms. This LRGB of 60:40:40:40 mins was taken with the C14 over two nights in Spain during July 2007. Full Resolution Image (2.1Mb)
	NGC 6822 (Barnards Galaxy) in Sagittarius is a very faint companion galaxy of our Milky Way. Almost impossible to find in other than very dark skies, it is about 2.2 million light years away from us and has a diameter of just over 12,000 light years. It shows up as a faint smudge in large telescopes, with dimensions of 12' x 5'. This image is a composite of five 5 minute exposures at f/5 in the "Tak". Full Sized Image (1.1Mb)
	NGC 6907 in Capricornus. From the huge to the tiny. We were searching the skies in that area for another object, when suddenly there was this tiny galaxy. It looked so neat and pretty, so we thought we'd image it, even though it is so small. The central bar can only be seen in larger telescopes, and it has a 3 arc minute diameter. This LRGB image, taken at f/5, is a 30:10:10:10 minutes blend
	NGC 6946 - A faint galaxy in the constellation of Cepheus, NGC 6946 is one of the class of galaxies known as "Arps". Note the two spiral arms on one side, and only one on the other, but this arm twists around back on itself. NGC 6946 is Arp galaxy number 29. Also note the regions of starburst formation in the arms. This image was taken with the Celestron C14 telescope at f/7 and is an LRGB of 50:30:30:30. Location was our observatory in southern Spain and date was 26th September 2006. Full Resolution Image (1.0Mb)
	NGC 7331 in the constellation of Pegasus is a nearly edge on spiral galaxy. It is one of my favourites because of the retinue of "baby" galaxies which accompany it. If you study the image you can see NGC 7335 at the seven-o-clock position and close in, NGC 7336 just to its left, NGC 7337 at the five-o-clock position, and NGC 7340 farther out below them. A more careful study of the image reveals many more faint galaxies which we have yet to identify! Full Resolution Image (1.4Mb)
	NGC 7479 - in Pegasus. This wonderful little "S" shaped spiral has a magnitude of 10.8, but a very bright center, revealing the bar quite well in our scope. This image, taken in September 2006, was using the C-14 on our Takahashi NJP mount at f/7. We shot three 20 minute images in white light and 3x10 minutes each for the colours. Full Resolution Image (1.1Mb)
	NGC 7332 and NGC 7339 in the constellation of Pegasus is a nice pair of edge on spiral galaxies. 7332 is 3.7� x 1.0� at magnitude 11.1 and 7339 is 2.6� x 0.8� at magnitude 12.2. This LRGB image of 40:15:15:20 minutes was taken using the C-14 and ST8E camera. Full Resolution Image (0.5Mb)
	NGC 7741 in Pegasus. A nice little galaxy with lots of fuzzy stuff surrounding the arms and a nice little bar. A 50 minute luminance with the C14 and ST10-XME camera taken on 8th September, 2007. Full Resolution Image (1.9Mb)
	PGC 2248 (the Cartwheel) in Sculptor is not an "NGC" but is an excellent example of a ring galaxy. The object is particularly interesting because the two galaxies just above and to the left, ESO 350-40B and MAC 0047-3342, have recently passed through the center of PGC 2248, creating major new star formation in the ring and also a "spoke" effect which gives the galaxy its name and which is just visible in this 40 minute image with the C-14. Full resolution image (1Mb)

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