Tag: Virgo cluster

M98 M99 Galaxies

March 24, 2020
Galaxy
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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:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length630 mm
MountAvalon M-Zero
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10°C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure140x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-03-24

M59 and M60 Galaxies

April 21, 2018
Galaxy
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Galactic season continues. This night I managed to capture many galaxies in one shot. Specifically, it’s Messier 59 Galaxy, located in the center, Messier 60 Galaxy at the top, two visually smaller galaxies – NGC 4606 and NGC 4607, located at the bottom right and NGC 4637, NGC 4638, located in the center left of the picture. All these galaxies are located in constellation Virgo and they are member of Virgo galactic cluster.

The picture is a stack of 54 pictures, each 5 minutes exposure time, i.e. 4.5 hours of total integration time.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 254/1000 mm
Aperture254 mm
Focal length1000 mm
MountGemini G53f
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-15°C
CorrectorGPU
FiltersIR UV cut
Exposure54x300s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2018-04-21

M49 Galaxy

April 11, 2018
Galaxy
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Messier 49 is an elliptical galaxy belonging to the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Magnitude 8.4 makes this galaxy the brightest in whole Virgo Cluster. Due to its brightness, it’s possible to observe it just by using binoculars. Distance of M49 from Solar system is 52 million light-years.

The picture is a stack of 40 photos with exposure time 5 minutes each. This means more than 3 hours of exposure time.

Technical details

Telescope:Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture:254 mm
Focal length:1000 mm
MountGemini G53f
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera:ZWO ASI071MC Pro
Corrector:GPU
Filters:UV IR cut
Exposure:40xRGB 300s
Date:2018-04-11

Markarian’s Chain

March 26, 2017
Galaxy
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Only few locations on the skies contain so many galaxies as Markarian’s Chain. It belongs to the Virgo galaxy cluster. The brightest galaxies in the center (M84 and M86) were discovered by Charles Messier already in 1781. The smaller one on the left is called NGC 4388, on the right NGC 4402 and at the bottom NGC 4438. These galaxies are located in constellation Virgo between two bright stars Danebola (constellation Leo) and Videmiatrix (Virgo) and they are 50 – 60 million light-years far from the Solar System.

This picture makes me think how big the universe is. Each galaxy contains billions of stars and there is so many of them…

Even though I used my smallest telescope (focal length 600 mm) the whole Markarian’s chain didn’t fit into the field of view. This means I will do mosaic, but probably next year.

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