The obligatory pretty picture of M57

xilman · 2019-10-12, 17:30

I don't go in for pretty pictures, and definitely not pretty colour pictures, as I prefer scientific utility over superficial attractiveness. Some people seem to like them, however, and so here is perhaps the biggest cliche of them all.

This one is my first such. It's quite probably the last for a long time.

Spherical Cow · 2019-10-21, 21:56

True- cliche is a good word, but still nice to see. The obligatory nature seems to hold true for simple observing, too; I find that on any typical winter night, I'll almost always swing the the scope over to the Orion nebula, even if its only for a quick 10-second view.

Norm

Dr Sardonicus · 2019-10-22, 00:41

Thanks for posting this.

As a token of gratitude, I offer alternative pretty pictures of M57, shown here. If these versions of the cliché aren't big enough, there are links you can click on to make them bigger.

xilman · 2019-10-22, 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Thanks for posting this.

As a token of gratitude, I offer alternative pretty pictures of M57, shown here. If these versions of the cliché aren't big enough, there are links you can click on to make them bigger.

Thanks. I've a monochrome deeper image which shows the outer shells too.

Dr Sardonicus · 2019-10-22, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by xilman

Thanks. I've a monochrome deeper image which shows the outer shells too.

Sounds interesting. Please share!

xilman · 2019-10-22, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Sounds interesting. Please share!

It's possible that I may be able to do better than the one posted on the BAA site as there may be more subs available than went into that one.

I'll take a look and post what turns up.

xilman · 2019-10-22, 17:53

Ok, here it is. It took me a little while to find it because it was filed under IC1296, the name of the barred spiral galaxy in the image. The appearance of the very faint and very low contrast outer shells of M57 is a bonus because the image processing was aimed at bringing out details in the galaxy's spiral arms. Incidentally, IC1296 is 15th magnitude. The galaxy at the top-right edge of the image is even fainter. It's bright nucleus shows up nicely and from the overall shape it looks as if it is a spiral seen at roughly the same inclination to us as displayed by M31. The star-like object towards its bottom-left end is indeed a foreground star

2019-10-12, 17:30	#1
xilman Bamboozled! "𒉺𒌌𒇷𒆷𒀭" May 2003 Down not across 2⁹·3·7 Posts	The obligatory pretty picture of M57 I don't go in for pretty pictures, and definitely not pretty colour pictures, as I prefer scientific utility over superficial attractiveness. Some people seem to like them, however, and so here is perhaps the biggest cliche of them all. This one is my first such. It's quite probably the last for a long time. Attached Thumbnails

2019-10-22, 17:53	#7
xilman Bamboozled! "𒉺𒌌𒇷𒆷𒀭" May 2003 Down not across 2⁹·3·7 Posts	Ok, here it is. It took me a little while to find it because it was filed under IC1296, the name of the barred spiral galaxy in the image. The appearance of the very faint and very low contrast outer shells of M57 is a bonus because the image processing was aimed at bringing out details in the galaxy's spiral arms. Incidentally, IC1296 is 15th magnitude. The galaxy at the top-right edge of the image is even fainter. It's bright nucleus shows up nicely and from the overall shape it looks as if it is a spiral seen at roughly the same inclination to us as displayed by M31. The star-like object towards its bottom-left end is indeed a foreground star Attached Thumbnails Last fiddled with by xilman on 2019-10-22 at 17:59 Reason: Add information about faint galaxy.

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2019-10-21, 21:56	#2
Spherical Cow Nov 2004 1034₈ Posts	True- cliche is a good word, but still nice to see. The obligatory nature seems to hold true for simple observing, too; I find that on any typical winter night, I'll almost always swing the the scope over to the Orion nebula, even if its only for a quick 10-second view. Norm

2019-10-22, 00:41	#3
Dr Sardonicus Feb 2017 Nowhere 1223₁₆ Posts	Thanks for posting this. As a token of gratitude, I offer alternative pretty pictures of M57, shown here. If these versions of the cliché aren't big enough, there are links you can click on to make them bigger.