Abell 2255 Galaxy cluster around galaxy PGC59855 (lowenthalm)

Abell 2255 Galaxy cluster around galaxy PGC59855

I setup a my first test live-stacked image at Hancock Field Station Friday night to see what the sky looked like and got distracted talking to some nearby observers. Then I remembered I had set up an image running and found almost 20 minutes worth of stacking on my screen. This is the image, and I knew it was going to be an awesome night!

Abell 2255 is a giant galaxy cluster near the head of Draco not far from the Cat's Eye nebula. I pulled up the saturation a bit to highlight the different types of galaxies. I think I still need to fuss with the green channel a bit to make the galaxies a little less yellow, but its already ready to share at this point. I'll post a new version if I can improve the color. The yellow galaxies are all ellipticals, while the blue ones are spirals and irregulars. The most of the cluster's members here are between 16th and 20th magnitude, with the faintest around 22nd magnitude. Nearly every bright or dim spot in this image is a galaxy - probably 90%-95%. I recommend zooming in on the full resolution image - its full of colorful easter eggs. There are numerous interacting galaxies and other beasts to be found here. Have fun.

One little additional note: that strange galaxy just above and to the right of center with the blue arcs around it is just a spiral with intensely blue arms. I know you were thinking it might be a gravitional lens. I was suspicious too, along with a few fellow observers at the star party who also noticed it in my image.

Original
Final
B

B

Description: Redone with the full 32 bit live-stacked image (I only processed the 16-bit data the first time) and corrected the green cast a bit which was making things way too yellow. I think its a bit improved?

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Astrophotography with Dobson

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	2258701
PixInsight job	Q25RH1WRELA76OPEREKTUSR3JIQ40S2Y
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	17h12m36s.998
RA (top/left)	17h14m08s.175
RA (top/right)	17h14m39s.194
RA (bottom/right)	17h11m03s.808
RA (bottom/left)	17h10m37s.135

Dec (center)	+64°03′06″.36
Dec (top/left)	+63°44′51″.33
Dec (top/right)	+64°19′07″.33
Dec (bottom/right)	+64°21′17″.42
Dec (bottom/left)	+63°46′59″.99

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