Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pisces (Psc)  ·  Contains:  M 74  ·  NGC 628
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy, GeOK
M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy, GeOK
M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

M74 (aka NGC628, the Phantom Galaxy) contains about 100 billion stars, is about 30 Mly away, and 95 Kly across - almost the same size as the Milky Way.  With a low surface brightness, it is a challenging target to visually observe and explains the nickname of "Phantom Galaxy".  M74 is an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy because it has well defined spiral arms.  

-Wikipedia

The stars in this picture have been processed separately and diminished to better show details in the galaxy.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy, GeOK