Astrophoto: Deep, Deep Look at NGC 891

By Nancy Atkinson - January 24, 2011 at 12:31 PM UTC | Extragalactic
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This image is a "first light" for noted amateur astronomer R. Jay GaBany's new observatory, and it might be the deepest, most detailed view of the iconic edge-on spiral galaxy NCG 891. This first photograph from his new observatory in California includes almost 35 hours of exposure time! "As a result, hundreds of small, much more distant galaxies can be seen in the image as well as very small scale structures across the galaxy's edge," Jay wrote us. If you go to Jay's website,

Cosmotography.com,

you can see larger versions where you can see very faint dust clouds, called cirrus, that have never been imaged within NGC 891 at this scale.

"Last fall, I moved my remote observatory from the south central mountains of New Mexico, where I have been taking pictures for the past five years," Jay said, "to high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, between Yosemite and King's Canyon National Parks, in the east central part of California….For me, the first picture included many test exposures taken to insure my instruments were functioning correctly. As a result, I chose a familiar subject so I could spot problems quickly. Luckily, I had very few challenges and my new remote observatory is now operating both smoothly and reliably!"

NGC 891 is located in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It's easily visible with a small telescope this time of year and is a favorite subject for astrophotographers. "However, no image of this galaxy (to my knowledge) has gone as deep as this picture," Jay said.

Also, Universe Today would like to send our congratulations to Jay for being recognized by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and Sky & Telescope Magazine, as he was awarded the Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award for his work with Dr. David Delgado and his team of professional astronomers! The award is given annually to an amateur astronomer from North America who makes outstanding contributions to scientific research.

Jay was cited as being one of the world's leading amateur astrophotographers for the past decade, "who has single-handedly, through his dedicated and careful work, spawned a new research direction in the exploration of galaxy evolution via low-surface-brightness imaging of galaxy halo substructure,"

the AAS press release said.

"GaBany has devoted hundreds of hours working with professional astronomers to make deep images that reveal faint tidal streams and rings in the outer halos of galaxies, indicative of recent and ongoing galaxy interactions with dwarf satellites, supporting studies of galaxy formation."

Congrats Jay!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com