Galaxy – AstroFotoBlog

NGC 300 Sculptor Pinwheel Galaxy

October 2, 2024 JakubK

Galaxy

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NGC 300, also known as the Sculptor Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located approximately 6.07 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. It is one of the closest galaxies outside the Local Group and is part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies. With its well-defined spiral arms and central bulge, NGC 300 resembles the Milky Way in structure but is smaller in size. It is known for its vibrant star-forming regions, abundant clusters of young, hot stars, and intricate dust lanes. NGC 300 is often studied for insights into galaxy formation and stellar evolution.

Telescope	Newtonian 200/800 mm
Aperture	200 mm
Focal length	800 mm
Mount	Skywatcher EQ6R
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, WO 40/200 mm
Camera	ZWO 071MC @-10°C
Corrector	GPU
Filters	–
Exposure	69x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2024-10-02

NGC 55 String of Pearls Galaxy

October 1, 2024 JakubK

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DSO Galaxy GPU coma corrector Kiripotib Namibia Newtonian 200/800 NGC55 Sculptor Skywatcher EQ-6 String of Pearls Galaxy ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 55 is a barred irregular galaxy located in the constellation Sculptor, approximately 6.5 million light-years from Earth. It is a member of the Sculptor Group, one of the closest galaxy groups to our own Local Group. NGC 55’s elongated, edge-on structure gives it a striking resemblance to the Small Magellanic Cloud, making it an intriguing subject for astronomers studying galaxy formation and evolution. It features active star-forming regions, dust lanes, and a complex mix of young blue stars and older red stars. Its irregular shape is likely influenced by gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies.

Telescope	Newtonian 200/800 mm
Aperture	200 mm
Focal length	800 mm
Mount	Skywatcher EQ6R
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, WO 40/200 mm
Camera	ZWO 071MC @-10°C
Corrector	GPU
Filters	–
Exposure	79x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2024-10-01

Whirlpool Galaxy

April 14, 2024 JakubK

Galaxy

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Canes Venatici DSO Galaxies Galaxy Gemini gf53 M51 Messier51 Newton 254/1000 Spiral galaxy Tele Vue Parakorr Whirlpool galaxy ZWO ASI 2600MM

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. The Whirlpool Galaxy lies 7.22 megaparsecs (23.5 million light-years) away from us and has a diameter of 23.58 kiloparsecs (76,900 light-years). Its companion, NGC 5195, is easily observed by amateur astronomers, and both galaxies can be seen with binoculars.

Telescope	Newtonian 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1170 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 2600MC @-10°C
Corrector	TeleVue Paracorr 2″
Filters	Antlia RGB
Exposure	66x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2024-04-14

And here is the capturing process recorded:

M101 Pinwheel galaxy

April 11, 2024 JakubK

Galaxy

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Antlia filters DSO Galaxy Gemini gf53 M101 Messier101 Newtonian 250/1000 Pinwheel Pinwheel Galaxy Tele Vue Parakorr Ursa Major ZWO ASI 2600MM

The Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M101, is a stunning spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major, about 21 million light-years from Earth. With a large, nearly face-on orientation, it displays beautiful, well-defined spiral arms filled with bright blue star clusters and reddish regions of active star formation. M101 is known for its striking symmetrical structure and massive size, spanning about 170,000 light-years across, making it almost twice the diameter of our Milky Way.

My first attempt to capture this galaxy was 8 years ago. This time I am equipped with a new camera and significantly improved processing skills:

Telescope	Newtonian 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1170 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 2600MC @-10°C
Corrector	TeleVue Paracorr 2″
Filters	Antlia RGB
Exposure	153x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2024-04-11

Leo triplet

April 25, 2023 JakubK

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Antlia V-Pro RGB DSO Galaxies Gemini gf53 Leo Leo Triplet M65 M66 Newton 254/1000 NGC3628 TS MaxField coma corrector ZWO ASI 2600MM

Leo triplet is a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo. It contains galaxies NGC 3628 (upper left), Messier 65 (upper right), and Messier 66 (middle down). These galaxies are visible nicely in spring when the constellation Leo rises in the southern part of the sky.

I captured the picture shown here last year, but I haven’t had time to process it so far. It is interesting to compare the progress I made in astrophotography in the last few years. I made the very first picture of this group of galaxies in 2015 and for the first time, I used Pixinsight software for post-processing. The improvement over the freeware Deep Space Stacker was enormous. Similar boost I got recently when I installed BlurXterminator (Pixinsight plugin), which significantly improved the sharpness, but without any unrealistic artifacts.

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	MaxField coma corrector
Filters	Antlia V-Pro LRGB
Exposure	L26x RGB15x 180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2022-03-05

M63 Sunflower galaxy

March 21, 2023 JakubK

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Antlia V-Pro RGB Canes Venatici DSO Galaxy Gemini gf53 M63 Messier63 Newton 254/1000 Sunflower galaxy Tele Vue Parakorr ZWO ASI 2600MM

Messier 63 is a stunning spiral galaxy located about 37 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy gets its name from the striking pattern of dust and gas that resembles the petals of a sunflower surrounding its bright yellow core.

The Sunflower Galaxy was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1779 and later added to the Messier catalog by Charles Messier in 1781. With an apparent magnitude of 8.6, it is easily visible with a small telescope or binoculars.

Spring is a great time to observe galaxies like Messier 63 because, during this season, the Earth is oriented in such a way that we are looking out towards the outer regions of our Milky Way galaxy. This means that the sky is darker and clearer, providing ideal conditions for observing distant galaxies.

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1150 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	Tele Vue Paracorr Type-2
Filters	Antlia Ha, 3 nm, V-Pro RGB
Exposure	4x24x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2023-03-21

NGC 292 Small Magellanic Cloud

May 30, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

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iOptron Skyguider Pro Kiripotib Namibia NGC 292 NGC292 Small Magellanic Cloud SMC Tucan Tucana William Optics RedCat 51 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Small Magellanic Cloud, shorty SMC, is a dwarf galaxy, which is gravitationally bonded to the Milky Way. It has an irregular shape, which resembles a droplet. Compared to the Milky Way’s size (100’000 light-years in diameter) it’s significantly smaller (7’000 light-years in diameter) and it’s roughly 200’000 light-years far from us.

SMC is visually accompanied by two globular clusters. NGC 104 at the top and NGC 362 at the left side. The clusters are obviously much closer to us than the galaxy.

This galaxy is quite important for astronomy, because Henrietta Swan Leavitt, an astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory, discovered several variable stars in this galaxy. Variable stars change the intensity in periodic cycles. So, based on the apparent brightness of the variable star, the distance can be determined. Since this discovery, mankind can measure the distance between the galaxies.

The picture is a stack of 159 photos, 2 minutes each. This means in total I was photographing this object for 5.3 hours.

Telescope	William Optics RedCat 51/250 f4.9
Aperture	51 mm
Focal length	250 mm
Mount	iOptron Skyguider Pro
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope 30/130 mm
Camera	ZWO ASI071 MC Pro @-10 °C
Filters	none
Exposure	159x120s, ISO 1600
Date	2022-05-30

NGC 6752 Globular Cluster

May 29, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy Globular cluster

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DSO Globular cluster Kiripotib Namibia NGC 6752 NGC6752 Pavo Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

NCG 6752 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Pavo. It contains approximately 100’000 stars and it is 13’000 light-years from Earth. Like most recently captured deep space objects, this cluster is visible only from the southern hemisphere.

My intention was to capture the cluster with the galaxies surrounding it, but since this part of the sky is full of stars, the galaxies are almost hidden.

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia LRGB
Exposure	36x180s L, 10x180s RGB, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-29

NGC 6744 Galaxy

May 28, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

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Galaxy Kiripotib Meade 10"MK 100 Namibia NGC 6744 NGC6744 Pave Spiral galaxy TS 0.67 reducer ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 6744 is a galaxy in the constellation Pavo. The galaxy has beautiful spiral arms, which attracted my attention and I spent 4 hours collecting the light coming from this 28 million light-years distant deep space object.

Telescope	Meade 10"
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	none
Exposure	78x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-28

M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

May 28, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

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DSO Galaxy Kiripotib M83 Meade Messier83 MK 100 Namibia Southern Pinwheel galaxy TS 0.67 reducer ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 83, sometimes called Southern Pinwheel Galaxy is one of the most difficult deep space objects in the whole of Messier’s catalog. It is located between the constellations Hydra and Centaurus. This galaxy has a very low southern declination (close to the horizon) and this makes it difficult to photograph in Central Europe. I tried a few years ago in La Palma, but my attempt was ruined by clouds and bad weather in general. This time I was better prepared: traveled south and hired a telescope with a much longer focal length. However, after the acquisition in the post-processing stage, I noticed that the final image is not that sharp and it was not really publishable. I was quite disappointed and put the picture in the archive. Recently I came back to this image because a new tool for sharpening was released – BlurXTerminator. I must say, this plugin for Pixinsight makes magical things. It reduces the stars and simultaneously makes the non-stellar object significantly sharper. I managed to turn an unfocused picture into this:

Telescope	Meade 10″
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	non
Exposure	52x180s, Gain 95, bin 1×1,
Date	2022-05-28

NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy

May 27, 2022 JakubK

Galaxy

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Centaurus Centaurus A Centaurus A Galaxy DSO Galaxy Kiripotib Meade 10"Namibia NGC 5128 NGC5128 TS reducer 0.67 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 5128 Centaurus A is a galaxy, which can be found in cancellation, you can guess which one, Centarus. This galaxy is not visible from Europe or from the northern hemisphere. If anyone wants to observe or photograph it, he has to go south. And this is precisely what I did. I went to Namibia, specifically to an Astrofarm Kiripotib. I went there with a plan and this Galaxy was my first and primary target. As for most galaxies, one needs a long focal length. Therefore, I rented a telescope there. Specifically, it was Meade 10″. I brought my own focal reducer TS 0.67 and attached my old ASI071. I made in a total of 133 pictures, each 3 minutes long, and stacked them together. This means nearly 7 hours of exposure time. The dust cloud blocking the light from the galaxy really popped out with the little help of deconvolution.

Telescope	Meade 10"
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	2097 mm
Mount	MK 100K
Autoguiding	MGEN 240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 @-10°C
Corrector	TS 0.67 reducer
Filters	non
Exposure	133x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-05-27

M81 Bode Galaxy M82 Cigar Galaxy

April 9, 2021 JakubK

Galaxy

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Bode galaxy Cigar galaxy Galaxies Gemini gf53 M81 M82 MaxField coma corrector Messier81 Messier82 Newton 254/1000 NGC3077 The Garland Galaxy ZWO ASI071MC Pro

I already captured these magnificent galaxies some time ago (short description here), but with a different camera. Moreover, I upgraded the primary mirror of my Newtonian telescope and the difference is noticeable. My current camera has a slightly bigger sensor, therefore I managed to squeeze an additional galaxy NGC 3077 The Garland Galaxy (upper left corner) into the field of view.

The image was captured during two nights and in total it’s a stack of 100 pictures each 180 s long. Unfortunately, the light pollution in my area doesn’t allow me to capture a better picture.

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	MaxField coma corrector
Filters	No
Exposure	100x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2021-04-09

M99 Galaxy

April 5, 2021 JakubK

Galaxy

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Coma Berenices DSO Galaxy Gemini gf53 M99 MaxField coma corrector Messier99 Newton 254/1000 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

This beautiful spiral galaxy is listed under number 99 in Messier’s catalog. It can be visually located during the spring months in the southwest corner of the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy has several spiral arms, which are the product of the interaction with another galaxy. This interaction also induced very high angular velocity, which is the highest in Messier’s catalog. Specifically, the outer parts move with a velocity of 1200 km/s with respect to the center of the galaxy.

I dedicated two nights to this galaxy. The telescope was collecting two whole nights the light traveling 45 million light-years. In total, the picture is a stack of 130 single shots, each 3 minutes long.

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	MaxField coma corrector
Filters	No
Exposure	130x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2021-04-05

NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy

September 21, 2020 JakubK

Galaxy

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DSO Galaxy Kythira MaxField coma corrector Newton 150/600 NGC253 Rainbow Astro RST135 Sculptor Sculptor Galaxy Silver Coin galaxy Silver Dollar Galaxy ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Every time when I chase the darkness in southern lands, I try to capture some deep space objects in the southern hemisphere, which are not visible from Central Europe. One of these objects is the Sculptor Galaxy, which can be found, surprisingly, in the constellation Sculptor (south from Aquarius). Here are some features: it is approximately 11 million light-years away from us, it has roughly 90 000 light-years in diameter (similar to Milky Way) and it is characteristic by the intense star formation. This galaxy is sometimes called Silver Coin or Silver Dollar Galaxy, but I pushed the colors into the yellow spectra, therefore it looks like a gold coin.

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	570 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-0°C
Corrector	TS MaxField
Filters	No
Exposure	127x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-09-21

M98 M99 Galaxies

March 24, 2020 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter Avalon M-Zero Coma Berenices Explore scientific coma corrector Galaxies M98 M99 Messier98 Messier99 NGC4208 Virgo cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 98 (left bottom) and 99 (right) are galaxies visually located in constellation Come Berenices. These galaxies interacted with each other long time ago, but it’s long time forgotten, because currently, the distance between them is 1.3 million light years.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	630 mm
Mount	Avalon M-Zero
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	140x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-03-24

M95 M96 M105 NGC 3384 and NGC 3389 Galaxies

March 18, 2020 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter Avalon M-Zero Explore scientific coma corrector Galaxies Leo M105 M95 M96 Newton 150/600 NGC3384 NGC3389 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Well, the weather was so bad very long time or the Moon was up and shining. I had almost no opportunity to capture something this year. Finally the sky cleared up and galactic season started (the spring). I was so excited that I wanted to capture as many deep space object at possible. Therefore I took the telescope with the shortest focal length I have (630 mm), pointed the telescope into the constellation Leo and captured 5 bright galaxies in one shot. M95 is the one at bottom left, M96 in middle and M105 the brightest at top right corner.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	630 mm
Mount	Avalon M-Zero
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	76x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-03-18

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

June 1, 2019 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter Explore scientific coma corrector Galaxy Gemini gf53 M101 Messier101 Pinwheel Pinwheel Galaxy Ursa Major ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 101 is a beautiful spiral galaxy, which can be located in the constellation Ursa Major. If I look back to my older picture, I must admit, it is worth spending a long time and dedicating some capture time for the hydrogen alpha channel.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1060 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	31x300s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-06-01

M102 Spindle Galaxy

May 24, 2019 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter Draco DSO Galaxy Gemini gf53 Lenticular galaxy M102 Messier102 Newton 254/1000 Spindle Galaxy ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Galactic season continues. After capturing M64 galaxy, I pointed my telescope to another one. Specifically to Messier 102 called Spindle Galaxy, which is a lenticular galaxy in constellation Draco. Afterwards I went to sleep and the telescope was collecting the photons coming from there. The light had to travel very long distance, because this galaxy is approximately 40 million light-years from Earth.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1060 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	55x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-05-24

M64 Black Eye Galaxy

May 23, 2019 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter Black Eye Galaxy Coma Berenices DSO Evil Eye Galaxy Explore scientific coma corrector Galaxy Gemini gf53 M64 Messier64 Newton 254/1000 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 64 is a galaxy, which can be located in constellation Coma Berenices. The name “Black Eye” or sometimes “Evil Eye” got from the central dark cloud, which blocks partially the light coming from there. This galaxy is relatively close to us – only 17 million light-year, which is significantly less compared to visually neighboring galaxies in constellation Virgo.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1060 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	24x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-05-23

M87 Virgo A Galaxy

May 6, 2019 JakubK

Galaxy

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Astronomik L-1 UV IR Block Filter DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Galaxy M87 Messier87 Newton 254/1000 Virgo Virgo A Virgo A Galaxy ZWO ASI071MC Pro

I came back from La Palma, disappointed by the weather. Surprisingly, back home was nice Moonless weather, so I took my telescope out and captured Messier 87, which is bright and super massive galaxy in constellation Virgo. It’s one of the largest elliptical galaxy in observable universe and makes the central sport in galactic cluster in Virgo. This galaxy contains a lot of globular clusters, approximately 12000. In comparison our Milky Way contains only 200.

I am really happy that I captured this galaxy this year, because quite recently was the first photo of a super massive black hole in M87 was captured. I think everybody got across the orange picture, which was an effort of many scientists.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	1060 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-15°C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	55x300s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2019-05-06

AstroFotoBlog

Category: Galaxy

NGC 300 Sculptor Pinwheel Galaxy

NGC 55 String of Pearls Galaxy

Whirlpool Galaxy

M101 Pinwheel galaxy

Leo triplet

M63 Sunflower galaxy

NGC 292 Small Magellanic Cloud

NGC 6752 Globular Cluster

NGC 6744 Galaxy

M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy

M81 Bode Galaxy M82 Cigar Galaxy

M99 Galaxy

NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy

M98 M99 Galaxies

Technical details:

M95 M96 M105 NGC 3384 and NGC 3389 Galaxies

Technical details:

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

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M102 Spindle Galaxy

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M64 Black Eye Galaxy

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M87 Virgo A Galaxy

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