Messier 74, sometimes called Phantom Galaxy, is a galaxy located in constellation Pisces. This galaxy has two prominent spiral arms and it is typical example of a spiral galaxy. The distance 35 million light-years from Earth has been estimated, therefore what we are looking at here is 35 million year old picture.
The photo was taken in Schwarzwald under decent dark skies and it’s an integration of 45 photos, each 3 minutes exposure, i.e. more than 2 hours of exposure time in total.
Technical details:
| Telescope | Newton 150/600 mm |
| Aperture | 150 mm |
| Focal length | 660 mm |
| Mount | iOptron CEM25P |
| Autoguiding | QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM |
| Camera | ZWO 071 Pro @-10C |
| Corrector | Explore Scientific HR coma corrector |
| Filters | Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter |
| Exposure | 45x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1, |
| Date | 2018-10-12 |