A couple of galaxies in Leo
Apr 18, 2023 20:10:54 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
I finally got a couple of clear nights and shot some images of M65 & M66 in the constellation of Leo. These two galaxies are 35 million and 31 million light years away respectively. The first image was taken using LRGB filters ( Luminance, Red, Green and Blue). The second image was taken substituting a Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) filter for the red channel. The third image combined 60% Red and 40% Ha for the red channel. The last image was the same as the third expect that the dimmer part of the image was stretched to see some of the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) outside our galaxy. All questions comments and suggestions are welcome.
For those interested the images were taken at a 4064mm focal length at F10 using a Meade 16 inch LX200 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. The camera used was an ASI 6200MM pro monochrome camera with the gain set to 100 and cooled to -20C. Processing was done with Pixinsight and the appropriate Bias, Flat and Dark Frames were used to calibrate the image.
The following exposures were used to construct these images.
Luminance 77 exposures at 2 minutes each
Red 20 exposures at 4 minutes each
Green 19 exposures at 4 minutes each
Blue 20 exposures at 4 minutes each
Ha 36 exposures at 500 seconds each
Total exposure time 11 hours and 50 minutes
For those interested the images were taken at a 4064mm focal length at F10 using a Meade 16 inch LX200 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. The camera used was an ASI 6200MM pro monochrome camera with the gain set to 100 and cooled to -20C. Processing was done with Pixinsight and the appropriate Bias, Flat and Dark Frames were used to calibrate the image.
The following exposures were used to construct these images.
Luminance 77 exposures at 2 minutes each
Red 20 exposures at 4 minutes each
Green 19 exposures at 4 minutes each
Blue 20 exposures at 4 minutes each
Ha 36 exposures at 500 seconds each
Total exposure time 11 hours and 50 minutes
LRGB version of the image
(Download)
LHaGB version of the image
(Download)
Image using a combination of the red filter data and Ha filter data for the red channel.
(Download)
Stretched image to bring out the IFN.
(Download)
Apr 18, 2023 20:17:22 #
Apr 18, 2023 20:25:20 #
Apr 18, 2023 20:32:00 #
Apr 18, 2023 21:53:20 #
Apr 18, 2023 22:02:59 #
augieg27
Loc: Central California
Ballard wrote:
I finally got a couple of clear nights and shot so... (show quote)
I always admire the photographers that can take these wonderful photos.
Thank you for sharing them.
Augie
Apr 18, 2023 22:11:06 #
Apr 18, 2023 22:19:26 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
John Matthews wrote:
Stunning
Hi John
Thanks for checking out the images of M65 & M66 and for the comment.
Apr 18, 2023 22:35:17 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
UTMike wrote:
Impressive!
Hi UTMike
Thanks for viewing the images of M65 & M66 and for the comment.
Apr 18, 2023 22:37:10 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
Stu A wrote:
Very nice. 
Hi Stu
Thanks for checking out the galaxy images, for the comment and the Thumbs up.
Apr 18, 2023 22:37:57 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
NMGal wrote:
Fantastic.
Hi NMGal
Thanks for viewing the shots of M65 & M66 and for the comment.
Apr 18, 2023 22:38:15 #
Apr 18, 2023 22:39:06 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
augieg27 wrote:
I always admire the photographers that can take these wonderful photos.
Thank you for sharing them.
Augie
Thank you for sharing them.
Augie
Hi Augie
Thanks for viewing the photos of the two galaxies and for the comment. It is my pleasure to share them.
Apr 18, 2023 22:40:10 #
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
Longshadow wrote:
Neat!
Hi Longshadow
Thanks for checking out the photos of M65 &M66 and for the comment.
Apr 18, 2023 22:41:02 #
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