Messier 109 (also known as NGC 3992) is a barred spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure around the central bar approximately 83.5 ± 24 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

Messier 109 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. In 1783 Charles Messier catalogued NGC 3992 as his 109th object.

Between the 1920s through the 1950s, it was considered that Messier objects over 103 were not official, but in later years the additions became more widely accepted. By the late 1970s all 110 objects are commonly used among astronomers as they still are today.

In March 1956, supernova 1956A was observed in M109. SN 1956A was a type Ia supernova in the southeast part of the galaxy, glowing at magnitude 12.8 to 12.3 at its maximum. SN 1956A has been the only supernova observed in M109 since its discovery. It is also by far the most distant object in the Messier Catalog, followed by M91.

M109 has three satellite galaxies (UGC 6923, UGC 6940 and UGC 6969) and possibly might have more. Detailed hydrogen line observations have been obtained from M109 and its satellites.

M109 is the brightest galaxy in the M109 Group, a large group of galaxies located in the constellation Ursa Major that may contain over 50 galaxies. [Source: Wikipedia]

CAPTURE Information:

The image was captured with the iOptron CEM120 mount , the venerable Meade 12"LX200 SCT, and my Atik 383L+ mono CCD at F7.16 (2182mm FL). Image subs were taken through Astronomik's filter Lum, along with R, G and B. All subs were done at 1x1 bin, -10C, at 10 minutes each.

IMAGE information -- 2020

Lum: 36 subs (6.0 hr) on Feb 24th, 26th and Mar 24th.

Red: 20 subs (3.33hr) on Mar 5th.

Green: 20 subs (3.33hr) on Feb 26th, Mar 5th and Mar 24th.

Blue: 20 subs (3.33hr) on Feb 26th, Mar 5th and Mar 24th.

North is to the right (pretty sure), and this is a slight crop due to the various movement of different subs.

COMMENTS:

This is my (I think) first run at M109. A data crash a few years back wiped out lots of files in the 2013 and 2014 period. The nebula is located in the northernportion of the sky. Given the timing I was working in between clouds, rain and the moon.

It came out OK.