Galaxy – Semper Iuvenis Photography

Exploring M81 and M82: A Guide for Amateur Astronomers

M81 and M82 are a famous pair of interacting galaxies. They are located approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

They are popular targets for amateur astronomers. They are bright enough to be seen with binoculars. They often fit within the same telescopic field of view as they do in this 5″ refractor.

As the pair are circumpolar, I chose to end my nightly winter sessions with this pair. I’ll add more data if the opportunity arises. This will happen over the remainder of our winter as we head into galaxy season. Imaged from my driveway with a wide-field Esprit 120ED refractor telescope and ZWO ASI2600MC camera atop an Eq6r Pro mount.

M 81 is commonly known as Bode’s Galaxy. It is a “grand design” spiral galaxy discovered by Johann Bode in 1774. It features a bright nucleus and well-defined spiral arms filled with blue star clusters and pinkish hydrogen gas clouds.

M 82 is known as the Cigar Galaxy due to its elongated, edge-on appearance, M82 is a prototypical starburst galaxy. It is undergoing an intense period of star formation, creating new stars 10 times faster than the entire Milky Way. It is famous for its bright red filaments of ionized hydrogen gas. These filaments blast out from its central regions, driven by strong galactic winds from supernova explosions.

Astrobin link with all the capture details and an annotated image. There are actually a lot of galaxies in this photo.

NGC 5982 Group: A Stunning Galaxy Trio in Draco

The NGC 5982 group is also known as the Draco Triplet or Draco Group. It is a striking trio of galaxies located approximately 100 to 140 million light-years away in the constellation Draco. The group is a favorite for Astro photographers. This is because it features three distinct types of galaxies in a single field of view. The view spans about the width of a full moon. There are 10 galaxies in this photograph total.

The “triplet” is composed of the following galaxies, typically seen in a line:

NGC 5982 (Center): A bright elliptical galaxy (type E3). It features a “decoupled nucleus.” This is a core that rotates perpendicular to the rest of the galaxy. It also has faint shells. Both are strong evidence of past galactic mergers.

NGC 5985 (Top): A large, nearly face-on barred spiral galaxy. It is classified as a Seyfert galaxy. This classification means it has an extremely bright and active nucleus. This is powered by a supermassive black hole.

NGC 5981 (Bottom): A faint spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on. Its thin profile shows a prominent dust lane similar to the famous “Needle Galaxy”.

This photograph was captured from my driveway in the hills of western North Carolina. I set up my RC8 with an ASI071MC camera atop an Eq6r Pro mount. I use Astro Photography Tool (APT 4.70.1) for session management and acquisition automation. The 96 3 minute subframes were calibrated, aligned, integrated, and processed manually with Pix Insight 1.9.3. Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.

Exploring NGC 2655: A Seyfert Galaxy in Camelopardalis

NGC 2655NGC 2655 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is at a distance of 60 million light years from Earth. NGC 2655 is a Seyfert galaxy. This means it has an extremely luminous core powered by matter falling into a supermassive black hole.The galaxy has asymmetric dust lanes in the center of the galaxy, tidal arms and extended neutral hydrogen gas and may have recently experienced a merger. It is situated near the north celestial pole, making it circumpolar and visible year-round for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Imaging session management and control using Astro Photography bTool (APT 4.70.1). Subframe calibration, debayer, alignment, integration, and processing using PixInisght.

NGC 2655 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is at a distance of 60 million light years from Earth. NGC 2655 is a Seyfert galaxy. This means it has an extremely luminous core powered by matter falling into a supermassive black hole.

The galaxy has asymmetric dust lanes in its center. It features tidal arms and extended neutral hydrogen gas. It may have recently experienced a merger. It is situated near the north celestial pole, making it circumpolar and visible year-round for observers in the Northern Hemisphere.

Imaging session management and control using Astro Photography bTool (APT 4.70.1). Subframe calibration, debayer, alignment, integration, and processing using PixInisght. Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.

Discovering NGC 3384: The Lenticular Galaxy in Leo

NGC 3384 (also known as NGC 3371) is a lenticular galaxy. It is located approximately 35 million light-years away. This galaxy is in the constellation Leo. It is a prominent member of the M 96 Group. This group is also called the Leo I Group. It includes the well-known Messier objects M 95, M 96, and M 105.

NGC 3384 and its neighbor M 105 are surrounded by a massive ring of neutral hydrogen. This ring is 650,000 light-years wide. Sparse star formation still occurs there. In the night sky, NGC 3384 forms a visual trio with the elliptical galaxy M 105. It forms this trio with (NGC 3379) and the spiral galaxy NGC 3389.

While M 105 and NGC 3384 are physical companions, NGC 3389 is a background galaxy located significantly further away. The galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its core. It has an estimated mass of 16 million times that of the Sun. This black hole is considered “quiet,” producing very little radio energy.

Image acquisition details in Astrobin. APT used for image acquisition and session automation. PixInsight used for subframe processing.

Messier 88: Characteristics of a Unique Galaxy

Messier 88 (M88 or NGC 4501) is a bright, multi-arm spiral galaxy located in the constellation Coma Berenices. As a prominent member of the Virgo Cluster, it is roughly 47 to 60 million light-years from Earth. M88 is one of the fifteen Messier objects that belong to the nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It is galaxy number 1401 in the Virgo Cluster Catalogue (VCC). The catalogue includes 2096 galaxies that are candidate members of the cluster.

The galaxy is inclined at about 30 to 64 degrees to our line of sight. This inclination gives it an elongated, elliptical appearance through telescopes. It spans about 100,000 to 130,000 light-years in diameter, making it comparable in size to our Milky Way. It contains about 400 billion stars.

With an apparent magnitude of 9.6, it is visible in large binoculars as a blurry patch and reveals its spiral structure in larger amateur telescopes. The galaxy is best observed during the spring months, particularly in May.

Image acquisition using APT. Image processing using PixInsight. Astrobin link for acquisition details and an annotated image.

Coma Berenices Galaxy Cluster

Abell 1656

I generally like to image open star clusters, globular clusters, and galaxies. However, it is fairly rare for a “starfield” to actually be a galaxy cluster. Hundreds of galaxies within my single field of view at 840mm fl. Challenges the mind.

Abell 1656, also known as the Coma Galaxy Cluster, is a massive and dense collection of galaxies. It contains more than 1,000 identified galaxies. These galaxies are located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is situated approximately 321 million light-years from Earth. The cluster has a diameter of about 20 million light-years.

The central region is dominated by two supergiant elliptical galaxies: NGC 4874 and NGC 4889. Most central members are ellipticals, while spiral galaxies like NGC 4921 are typically found on the outskirts. Important to look at the astrobin platesolve for this image to see what’s actually in there.

NGC 4449 – The Box Galaxy

NGC 4449, the Box Galaxy, (also known as Caldwell 21) is an irregular dwarf starburst galaxy. It is located approximately 12 to 13 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is a member of the M94 group of galaxies. Its exceptionally high rate of star formation is notable. This feature earns it the “starburst” designation.

Unlike many galaxies where star formation is central, NGC 4449 exhibits widespread star formation. It reaches all the way to its edges. This is likely triggered by gravitational interactions or past mergers with smaller companion galaxies. The galaxy is rich in blue star clusters, which are young and massive stars. It also contains reddish regions of ionized hydrogen. In these regions, new stars are actively being born.

Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image

Discovering the Splinter Galaxy: NGC 5906

NGC 5906 is often referred to as part of the Splinter Galaxy or Knife Edge Galaxy. It is an edge-on spiral galaxy. It is located approximately 46–55 million light-years away in the Draco constellation. It is closely associated with NGC 5907. Many, including early observers, distinguish the western part of this thin, dusty galaxy as NGC 5906. The brighter, eastern side is identified as NGC 5907.

It has an extreme edge-on orientation. Because of this, it appears as a thin sliver of light or “knife edge” in telescopes. A prominent dust lane divides it. It is a spiral galaxy with a small, compact nucleus containing a supermassive black hole. Deep imaging reveals faint, massive stellar tidal streams looping around the galaxy. These are believed to be the remnants of a dwarf galaxy absorbed about 4 billion years ago.

I photographed this from my driveway with a GSO RC8 telescope. I used an ASI071MC Pro camera cooled to 14f. The setup included a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro equatorial mount. APT controls image acquisition and session automation. 102 3 minute subs, or about 5 hours of exposure. Subframes were calibrated, debayered, aligned, integrated, and processed using PixInsight 1.9.3.

Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image

Exploring NGC 3521 – The Bubble Galaxy in Leo

NGC 3521 is popularly known as the Bubble Galaxy. It is an intermediate spiral galaxy. It is located approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. The galaxy earns its nickname from the gigantic, very faint bubble-like shells and tidal remnants that surround it.

Astronomers believe these shells are tidal debris. They consist of streams of stars and gas. These materials were torn from smaller satellite galaxies. NGC 3521 absorbed them in the distant past. These outer structures are very faint and typically only appear in deep, long-exposure astrophotography. In smaller backyard telescopes, the galaxy often appears as a simple glowing object. It is rounded in shape. This appearance also contributes to the “bubble” moniker.

I photographed this galaxy from my driveway here in Burke County, NC. I used APT for session management and automation. Over two nights, I gathered 105 3 minute exposures. I used a GSO RC8 telescope at 1625mm fl paired with a ZWO ASI071MC Pro cooled to 14f. These ride a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro Equatorial mount. The subframes are manually calibrated, debayered, aligned, integrated, and processed in PixInsight 1.9.3.

Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image

M 35 – The Shoe Buckle Cluster

Messier 35 (M35) is the only Messier object in the constellation Gemini. It is also called NGC 2168 or the Shoe Buckle Cluster. M35 is a relatively young open cluster of stars about 150 million years old.

Open clusters are groupings of stars that are loosely gravitationally bound. They tend to form from the same cloud of gas and dust. Their stars share characteristics like age and chemical composition. This can be helpful for studying how stars form and evolve. Over time, tidal forces within a host galaxy may be very strong. They may overwhelm an open clusters’ gravitational pull. As a result, its stars may disperse into the galaxy.

M35 is large. On very dark nights, it can be seen as a fuzzy object with the unaided eye. In binoculars, it appears as a haze with some resolvable stars. Through a telescope, it reveals a grouping of bright stars.

Located near Castor’s right foot in Gemini, it is best seen in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. A smaller and more compact neighboring open cluster, NGC 2158, may also be visible. It is within nearly the same field of view. It is located at the bottom center of my photograph.

Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.