The Perseus Cluster (Abell 426) is a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Perseus, located at a distance of about 240 million light years. It is made up of more than 1000 members, the brightest and most prominent of which is NGC 1275. Shining at about magnitude 12.6 and with an apparent size of about 2 x 2 arcminutes, NGC 1275 is an active Seyfert galaxy hosting a supermassive black hole.
A prominent feature of this galaxy is a network of gas filaments which stands out even in amateur imagery and is more prominent in the H-alpha emission line. These filaments are believed to be the result of the interaction of the galaxy’s black hole with the surrounding cluster gas and contribute to making NGC 1275 a powerful X-ray source.
I imaged Abell 426 between September and December 2024 from Valle d’Aosta in the Italian Alps. The photo below is an L:R:G:B:Ha composite of 180:36:39:49:100 10-min subs, for a total exposure of about 67 hours. The imaging train is made up of a 10-inch GSO RC with an AP CCDT67 reducer yielding an f/ratio of 5.5 and a QHY163M CMOS camera with an Optolong filter set. An annotated version of the image and a "collage" showing close-ups of the most interesting galaxies are also shown below.
Enjoy! 🙂
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