This galaxy is somewhat unusual in that it just has a single spiral arm. Most spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, have two arms. A quick internet search showed that this is a very popular astrophotography target, but didn't turn up much beyond the facts that it spans about 100,000 light years and is approximately 41 million light years from earth. There are two other galaxies in this image. NGC 4712 is closes while NGC 4747 looks to me like it's hurling toward the others with just a hint of afterburner.
Photo Details
June 16 & 21, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
38 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 54 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop
After targeting primarily galaxies recently, I decided to check out a globular cluster last evening. Messier 53 lies about 63,000 light years from us and, according to astronomers, is approaching at 70 km/sec. That translates to a whopping 156,492 miles/hour. Given the current distance and speed, Earth should have a close encounter in about 275 million years with this beautiful cluster.
Photo Details
June 5, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
19 subframes at 3 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 57 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop
We had a rare clear and cool Friday night with little moon on May 22. Allison and I made the most of it and headed to our local dark site. We had a great time, setting up at dusk and heading home at 1:30 in the morning. While I was busy with the photography equipment, she did a great job running the large telescope herself and was able to see many new Messier objects. In all, she logged 12 new ones and is well on her way to logging all 110. Truly a night to remember.
The large galaxy in the image above is Messier 106 which, curiously, Messier may not have ever actually observed. It was only added to the Messier list in 1948. Other galaxies are clearly visible in the vicinity and astronomers believe M106 is the the center of a galaxy group of 17 objects. The nearest and seemingly largest neighbor is NGC 4217 which happens to appear edge-on to our viewpoint. The contrast and arrangement of these galaxies is simply stunning.
Photo Details
May 22, 2015
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
SBIG STF-8300C Camera
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
30 subframes at 5 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 2 hour 30 minutes
Image Acquisition in CCDOps
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop
