THE BLOWDRYER GALAXY
- Messier 100 aka NGC 4321
- Deepsky 3862mm LRGB
- Constellation Coma Berenices

Messier 100 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair) about 55 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy is about 107,000 light-years across and has a mass about 1.5 times that of the Milky Way. It belongs to the Virgo galaxy cluster. This galaxy is also called hair dryer - or mirror galaxy.

M100 has a striking structure of spiraling arms radiating from a bright center. These arms contain dust, gas, and young, hot stars that are forming in the galaxy's high-density regions. However, the central regions of Messier 100 are older and contain more yellow and red stars.

The galaxy is also known for its active star formation, which occurs primarily in the galaxy's spiral arms. Star formation in Messier 100 is likely due to an interaction with another galaxy that occurred about 500 million years ago. M100's distinctive arms are also home to several small black holes, including the youngest ever observed in our cosmic neighborhood.
At the center of Messier 100 is a massive black hole with an estimated mass of about 40 million times that of the Sun. This black hole plays an important role in regulating star formation and the dynamics of the galaxy.
Messier 100 is also known for its numerous supernovae. Since their discovery, several supernova explosions have been observed in the galaxy. These explosive events mark the end of the lives of massive stars and help release energy and enrich the interstellar medium.

The galaxy was discovered in 1781 by French astronomer Pierre Méchain, comet hunter of Charles Messier, who discovered eight comets during his lifetime.

Equipment & recording dates:
Picture 1 - close-up
Telescope: Planewave 24" (0.61m) CDK, focal length 3962mm f/6.5 (iTelescope Premium Imageset), California, USA
Camera: probably QHY600M with Astrodon filter set
Lights: 38xLuminance per 600s / 19xRed/20xGreen/21xBlue per 300s / Bin 1x1


Image editing:
Mainly Pixinsight, Photoshop, Lightroom, GraXpert, BTX Blur Terminator, Noise Terminator, Star X Terminator