ADAM BLOCK - FINE ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
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Adam Block's Latest View of the Universe:
NGC 5216 (Keenan System)
released 11/16/2015

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​Click the image below for a full version.
Picture
(This is an updated image, the original I completed 5 years ago (2010) using a 0.6m telescope and a different camera. My commentary from that time is below. The old image was featured as an APOD.)

Long ago I was inspired by John Dubinski's (et al) work on galactic mergers. He created code that ran on a supercomputer to simulate the merger of the Milky Way (us) and Andromeda (nearest large neighbor) galaxies (making Milkomeda) and put together a movie as part of his GRAVITAS series. I have been showing this to the public for years. There is a point in the simulation where the resulting pattern looks (to my eye) *very* similar to NGC 5216 (Keenan system). Please see this image.
Granted that the physics is correct, it is remarkable that the Universe is large enough to express examples of all potential possibilities. This lends credence to the idea that astrophysical computer simulations may be predictive. Here the tidal stream that seems to connect the galaxies with their two counter-oriented tidal tails is represented well in the comparison. This pattern exists only briefly in the full simulation ( which you should check out). I guess I do better at finding patterns in galaxies rather than clouds - unless you just see the bunny rabbit.

  • Optics                                         32-inch Schulman Telescope (RCOS)
  • Camera                                       SBIG STX16803 CCD Camera 
  • Filters                                          Astrodon Gen II
  • Date                                             May 2015
  • Location                                      Mount Lemmon SkyCenter
  • Exposure                                     LRGB = 10 : 4 : 4: 4   Hours 
  • Acquisition                                  Astronomer Control Panel (ACP),  Maxim DL/CCD (Cyanogen), FlatMan XL (Alnitak)
  • Processing                                  CCDStack, Photoshop CC, PixInsight
  • Credit Line & Copyright           Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona
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Recent Feedback

© 2014 Adam Block All Rights Reserved
I sit here at my computer trying to think of words to describe how impressive this image is to me. The best I can do falls so far short of acceptable that I will not even try... The wonder and awe of an image like this is why I love astronomy so very much. Thank you allowing me the pleasure of seeing it. - D. Mosely
  • Home
  • About
  • Gallery
    • Adam Block's Latest View of the Universe
    • Nebulae
    • Galaxies
    • Star Clusters
    • Solar System
    • Nature
    • Miwa Block's Art
  • Videos
    • Astro-Cool!
    • Media About Me
    • About my Workplace
  • Displays
  • Contact
  • Blog