NGC 5101—The In Between Galaxy

[Russ.Carpenter]

This image and text were uploaded to Astrobin this morning. https://www.astrobin.com/n5n370/

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NGC 5101—The In Between Galaxy

This image is part of my on-going investigation of peculiar galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. Astronomers have had a hard time agreeing whether this galaxy is a late stage lenticular or an early stage spiral. It certainly has characteristics of both. I admire the distinct core, prominent bar, inner ring, and faint, tightly packed spiral arms.

In processing this image, I shifted dynamic range away from very dark pixels, which had the effect of expanding dynamic range for the mid tones. This generated well nuanced details in the galaxy’s interior. I also took advantage of StarTools tracking feature to preserve the intrinsic colors of the galaxy, which benefited the yellow hues of the old stars in the galaxy’s center.

NGC 5102 meets the definition of a peculiar galaxy in The Catalog of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations, by Halton Arp and Barry Madore. It falls under Category 10—galaxies with peculiar spiral arms.

Tech Notes for ASA 500/3.6:
ASA Newtonian, 500 mm aperture, 1900mm focal length, F3.6
FLI Proline 16803, 9 mm pixel, 4096 X 4096
ASA DDM85 equatorial mount
Processing with PixInsight, StarTools, and Affinity Photo

[emarko]

Amazing, soft & sharp .....

[Russ.Carpenter]

Emarko, thanks for the supportive words.

Russ