Casitas de Gila, Gila, NM, March 26-27, 2023

In March, I made my annual Spring trip to New Mexico for galaxy season.  This pair of interacting galaxies made an interesting target to capture with the limited time left in my trip.

Description:

NGC 3226 is a dwarf elliptical galaxy (type active (dE)) that is interacting with the spiral galaxy NGC 3227 (type active (SAB(s)pec)).  The two galaxies are one of several examples of a spiral with a dwarf elliptical companion that are listed in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.  Both galaxies are found in the constellation Leo and are between 50 and 60 million light-years away.  They are members of the NGC 3227 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Leo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the right edge of the Virgo Supercluster.  NGC 3227 is a Seyfert galaxy, a type of galaxy with a very active nucleus.  Seyfert galaxies hold supermassive black holes at their cores. As matter spirals into the black hole, it releases vast amounts of radiation along the black hole's axis of rotation, giving the galaxy its active nucleus. (Wikipedia, NASA)

As these galaxies have performed their galactic dance, large distortions and streams of stars were created.  There is a very faint tidal tail emanating from NCG 3227 and flowing to the right.  It is possible that these galaxies will merge.

Imaging and Processing:

Time was running out for imaging, especially with the moon moving towards first quarter.  So, only limited data were collected for these interacting galaxies and good detail is missing.  In spite of the poor seeing and intermittent clouds passing over, a reasonable image was salvaged.

Imaging details:

Celestron 9.25" Edge HD SCT (FL = 2350mm at f/10)
Celestron Off-axis Guider with ZWO ASI 174 mini guide camera
Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini 2 controller
ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro cooled monochrome camera (-10C)
36mm Chroma filters: Luminance, Red, Green, Blue

Software: Sequence Generator Pro, PHD2 guiding, Losmandy Gemini 2 ASCOM driver,
SharpCap Pro with QHY Polemaster camera for polar alignment, 
PixInsight and Photoshop 2023

Luminance    2 min x 81 subframes (162 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Red       4 min x 14 subframes (56 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Green    4 min x 15 subframes (60 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Blue       4 min x 15 subframes (60 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning

Total integration time: 5.6 hours