Galaxies for Fun Astronomical CCD photos on peculiar galaxies and other astronomical stuff.
www.galaxies.se - by Ivar Hamberg
Abell Galaxy Clusters
There is an immense number of galaxies in an immense number of clusters out there. The closest clusters are hundreds of millions of lightyears away, so they are pretty dim, The individual galaxies are typically dimmer than magnitude 15 and beyond, so deep exposures are needed. Anyhow, one can observe several of the closest clusters with modest instruments.
Abell Galaxy Cluster AGC 2151, The Hercules Cluster.
This is a 4h48m exposure during a somewhat bright sky, where the two last sessions were during late spring with almost twilight sky.
Date: 2024-04-11, 04-12, 04-29, 05-03
Optics: 12" f/8 RC telescope
Camera: QHY600M
AGC2151 is part of the Hercules Supercluster, which also is a part of the so called Great Wall Super Structure. AGC2151 houses some 200 galaxies, where many are spirals.
OBJECT | AGC2151 | Hercules |
OPTICS | 12" f/8 RC, 1:1 field flat | f.l. 2400mm |
FILTERS | LRGB | - |
CAMERA | QHY600M PH | BIN1. 0.3"/pixel |
EXPOSURE | L: 28x3min RGB: 22, 24, 22 x 3min | Tot: 4h 48min |
PROCESSING | Maxim DL / Pixinsight | BlurXT NoiseXT |
COLOUR Scheme | LRGB | - |
DATE | 2024-04-11, 12, 29 2024-05-03 | - |
Abell Galaxy Cluster AGC 426, The Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
This famous galaxy cluster could be one of the most massive objects in the universe. It contains several thousand galaxies. It is also said to be the strongest X-ray emitting galaxy cluster in the sky, coming from the region of NGC 1275. This is the brightest galaxy in the center of this image. The X-ray source is designated Perseus-A, or Perseus-X1, or 3C 84.
Note the filament structures around NGC1275 in the center of the image!
OBJECT | AGC426 | Perseus |
OPTICS | 12" f/8 RC, 1:1 field flat | f.l. 2400mm |
FILTERS | LRGB | - |
CAMERA | QHY600M PH | BIN2. 0.6"/pixel |
EXPOSURE | L: 12x5min RGB: 10, 9, 9 x 5min | Tot: 3h 20min |
PROCESSING | Maxim DL / Pixinsight | BlurXT NoiseXT |
COLOUR Scheme | LRGB | - |
DATE | 2024-10-30 2024-11-05 | - |
Abell Galaxy Cluster AGC 1656, The Coma Galaxy Cluster.
This famous galaxy cluster is one of the major ones. It contains some 1000 galaxies, mostly ellipticals, as well as S0 galaxies, and many anonymous dwarf galaxies. Fritz Zwicky noted very early (1933) that the velocities in the Coma cluster were too high for the galaxy cluster to be bound together by the visible materia of the galaxies. He stated that they must be held together by some "dunkle materie". It is said that some 90% of the materia could be dark matter in this cluster.
