Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pisces (Psc)  ·  Contains:  M 74  ·  NGC 628
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M 74 and the IFN, Alex Woronow
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M 74 and the IFN

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M 74 and the IFN, Alex Woronow
Powered byPixInsight

M 74 and the IFN

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Description

M 74 and the IFN

OTA:……………….CDK17 f/6.8

Camera:………….FLI Proline 16803, 9micron pixels 0.64 arcsec/pix

Observatory:…. Rodeo, NM (Bernard Miller, host)



EXPOSURES:

…R……..10 x 900 sec.

…B…....14 x 900

…G…….12 x 900

…L……..20 x 1200

…H.…...12 x 1800

Total exposure 21.7 hours

Image Width: 31.7 arc-minutes

Processed by Alex Woronow (2021) using PixInsight, Topaz, SWT

In this image, the galaxy M78 appears behind the Integrated-Flux Nebula (IFN) located in our Milky Way. M 74’s low surface brightness makes it difficult to observe visually and photograph. It also forces brightening the patchy IFN to bring forward the galaxy. As a result, as the outermost extent of the galaxy’s arms becomes faint and patchy, they blend into the background patchiness of the IFN, making the limits of the galaxy challenging to discern.

There’s another difficulty loosely attached to the name “Messier 74.” A piece of music title “Messier 74” enhabits the Beatspace Radio website: https://iboga-beatspace.bandcamp.com/track/messier-74. As hard as it is to discern the spatial limits of galactic Messier 74 from its nebular background, it’s even harder to discern its musical limits of Beatspace Messier 74 from a passing circus train.

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M 74 and the IFN, Alex Woronow