Ultra-Deep Astrophoto: 75 Hours of the Antenna Galaxies

By Nancy Atkinson - July 23, 2014 at 11:58 AM UTC | Extragalactic
Antennae_Extreme_Deep_Field_75Hours_5138x3791.jpg

You might think the image above of the famous Antenna Galaxies was taken by a large ground-based or even a space telescope. Think again. Amateur astronomer Rolf Wahl Olsen from New Zealand compiled a total of 75 hours of observing time to create this ultra-deep view.

"To obtain a unique deep view of the faint tidal streams and numerous distant background galaxies I gathered 75 hours on this target during 38 nights from January to June 2014," Rolf said via email. "At times it was rather frustrating because clouds kept interrupting my sessions."

But he persisted, and the results are stunning.

He used his new 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian telescope, which he said gathers approximately 156% the amount of light over his old 10" f/5 telescope.

Rolf even has put together comparison shots from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope of the same field of view:

[caption id="attachment_113398" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Comparison images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope, compared with the 75-hour ultra-deep image by Rolf Wahl Olsen. Credit and copyright: Rolf Wahl Olsen. [/caption]

And if you look even closer you can see an incredible field of distant background galaxies. "Apart from the Antennae itself, what I like most about this scene is the incredible number of distant background galaxies," Rolf told Universe Today. "This area in Corvus seems very rich indeed. The full resolution image is worth having a look at just to see all these faint galaxies littering the background. There are many beautiful interacting pairs and groups which would be fantastic targets in themselves if they were only closer."

Here's a collage of some of the background galaxies that Rolf compiled: [caption id="attachment_113416" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

A gallery of distant background galaxies in the same field of view as the Antenna Galaxies. Credit and copyright: Rolf Wahl Olsen. [/caption]

See more of Rolf's work

at his website

or on

G+.

You may remember that Rolf took the

first amateur image of another solar system, at Beta Pictorus.

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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