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COMA BERENICES - SPIRAL GALAXY - MAG 9.6 |
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NGC 4565 - EDGE-ON SPIRAL GALAXY in COMA BERENICES
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About this Object: |
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This might be the most famous of the non- Messier galaxies, with good reason. This edge-on spiral, with prominent dark dust lane, is a delight through just about any telescope with moderate aperture. The smaller galaxy at the bottom is NGC 4562, a 13.7 magnitude spiral, and of course many other smaller, fainter galaxies litter the field. NGC 4565 is assumed to resemble our own Milky Way galaxy if we were to view it from the outside, looking in. It rests approximately 31 million light years away. It can be found close to the unusual cluster of stars known as Mel 111 in the constellation Coma Berenices. It's one of my favorite galaxies and a wonderful springtime object. |
Location:
Comanche
Springs, 3RF dark sky site near Crowell, TX
Date: April
8 & 9, 2005
Seeing:
5/10
on average
Transparency: 7/10
Temperature: Chilly (-25 degrees C on camera)
Scope/Mount: 12.5" RCOS
RC @ f/9 and Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STL-6303e astro
CCD camera
Exposure Info: LRGB
image; 130:20:20:45 minutes (10 minute subexposures for L, 5 minute
subexposures for RGB, color binned)
Processing Information:
Acquisition,
calibration
(darks/flats), registration, and RGB channel combine in MaxIm
DL 4
(Sigma combine). LRGB
combine, color balance, levels/curves, cropping, and
noise removal (Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools) in Photoshop CS.
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS:
Location: The Ballauer Observatory near Azle, Texas
Date: March 30,
2004
Transparency: 5/10
Seeing: 5/10
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106 @ f/8
(with Extender-Q) on Tak NJP mount
Camera: SBIG ST-10xme with CFW8a filter
wheel
Exposure Info: RGB image (20:20:20 minutes)
Processing Info: Dark
and flat calibration, registration, gradient removal, and average combine in
MaxIm. DDP and Lucy-Richardson Deconvolution (2 iterations) in Images Plus.
Curves, deblooming, sharpening, and cropping in Photoshop CS. Final smoothing in
Pleaides' SGBNR.
Extra Info: Special thanks to Dr. Fred Koch for the use of the SBIG ST-10xme camera and Tak NJP mount.
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