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I agreeImaging telescope or lens:CELESTRON EdgeHD 800
Imaging camera:ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool
Mount:Orion Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G
Guiding telescope or lens:CELESTRON EdgeHD 800
Guiding camera:ASI120MM
Focal reducer:Celestron 0.7x Focal Reducer
Software:Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro, Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight , Adobe Photoshop, PHD 2
Accessories:Moonlite CHL 2.5" Large Format Crayford Edge Focuser, Orion Thin Off-Axis Guider (TOAG)
Resolution: 3390x2630
Dates:March 26, 2018, April 7, 2018, April 20, 2018, April 21, 2018
Frames:
Blue: 20x240" -20C bin 1x1
Green: 20x240" -20C bin 1x1
Luminance: 160x180" -20C bin 1x1
Red: 22x240" -20C bin 1x1
Integration: 12.1 hours
Darks: ~50
Flats: ~50
Bias: ~256
Avg. Moon age: 10.36 days
Avg. Moon phase: 46.50%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 5.00
Astrometry.net job: 2039939
RA center: 161.692 degrees
DEC center: 11.819 degrees
Pixel scale: 0.527 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 272.136 degrees
Field radius: 0.314 degrees
M96 lies about 35 million light years away in Leo. The bright inner core is slightly displaced from the outer extended halo. This asymmetric nature hints at past gravitational interactions with neighbors. The inner core is significantly brighter than the outer diffuse arms and a more notable feature is the bright blue ring of starburst activity that surrounds this core.
One interesting aspect of this image is the appearance of a sizable edge-on background galaxy situated behind M96’s faint arm (near the top of the galaxy in this image). This galaxy is 15-20 times more distant by some estimates and shines bright enough to be clearly seen through the foreground stars and dust.
This image was a long time in the making. The RGB data needed a lot of help, but the weather was not allowing me to capture more. So, at some point I called it off and processed what I had.
Enjoy!
| Cloudy Nights |
| Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) Imagers |
| ZWO ASI1600MM/QHY163M |
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