The story of this image is like a journey.

Some time ago I read about the jets of M106; this galaxy has two additional and hidden arms. I read about these 'secret' spiral arms and I immediatly understood that my next project would be this wonderful galaxy.

But I arrived a little bit late to the galactic station to take this interstellar spaceship... because of bad weather, my previous image went on much more than usual. So I started to image M106 with summer light until late, so few hours of dark; plus M106 was disappearing earlier and earlier behind a building. Each night, less minutes to take pictures, less and less day by day.

And each time, I was stacking the subs to check the result. And each day, I wanted more and more subs, because the result did not make happy.

It was like a race against time (and weather), but I went on with all my forces, gathering each precious minute of available Light. Some nights I was under the clouds waiting for 20 or 30 minutes of Light. And I was so happy when I could get it: adding little pieces of the puzzle in my hands.

Checking each day the result, and looking the image that was growing day by day, I felt in the end like if I was really travelling towards M106 in a beautiful space journey.

I was struggling to get near, more near, until I could discover those arms!

By technique side, I needed a deep RGB image, and the sharpest Ha (I used also OIII) channels to highlight the hidden arms. The more, the better.

My dream, my journey in the end came true: I was able to reach M106 and those beautiful treasures!

This is by far my longest integration time in a project. And also I reached my best guide with the Neq6 overloaded with GSO 10" F/3.8 (Pec activated) and all the accessories. I'm glad of the image, not forgetting the LP of my backyard. I liked the widefield version also ('original'), but I choosed the crop obviously.

Thanks for reading the story of this image.