25.0 eyepiece (50.0×)
A combination of three 20 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 photos.

Here, one can see the inner core of M31 near the top and the core of M32 just right of center near the bottom.

Piggyback (3.0×)
Sixteen 60 s, f/4.9, ISO 200 plus twenty-two 30 sec, f/4.9, ISO 400 were grouped into subsets of approximately five, averaged, a flat-field removed and the contrast enhanced. Those subsets were then averaged and the contrast enhanced again.

M31 is visible to the naked eye with a dark sky and has been known for centuries but its real nature, another galaxy about 2,500,000 l.y. from Earth, was only realized last century. It is a spiral similar our own Milky Way, and, along with the Milky Way, are the largest member of the Local Group of Galaxies.

This photo just shows the inner, brightest part of the galaxy, the nucleus, in the center of the photograph with faint, short extensions to the upper-left and lower-right. In reality, the disk of M31 extends almost one-fifth of the diagonal of this photo. It has two companion galaxies, M32, which is the brightest of the small triangle of "stars" immediately the below the nucleus, and M110 which just above but not visible in this photo.

25.0 mm eyepiece plus reducer-corrector (31.5x)
This is an average of five 30 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 photos. A flat-field has been removed and the contrast enhanced.

NGC 253 is a large bright galaxy, 2/3 the apparent size of our Moon, tilted nearly edge on. Only the inner portion of the galaxy is visible in this photo as are some of the dark dust lanes creating a mottled appearance. If the entire disk of the galaxy could be seen in this photo, it would stretch from the top-left to the bottom-right corner of this photo. Unfortunately for northern hemisphere observers, NGC 253 is located far south of the celestial equator. NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of galaxies and is about 11,000,000 l.y. from Earth.

25.0 mm eyepiece (50.0×)
Created by averaging thirteen 30 s, f/4.9, ISO 400 images. Then, a background fwas removed and the contrast strongly enhanced (intensity to the fourth power).

Unfortunately, the photo only captures the central bulge of this famous spiral galaxy with a very slight hint of its inner disk. M81 is 8,500,000 l.y. distant and 60,000 l.y. across. As the mosaic to the right suggests, M81's brightness and proximity to M82 make it an attractive target for small telescopes.

2009-04-4
White balance = 6000K (Cloudy)
Noise reduction = Off
Prime focus (32.5×)
This is a combination of fifty 20 s, ISO 800 photos. I removed an average dark frame and a flat field, then stretched the contrast on each individual photo. I averaged the photos in groups of five and stretched the contrast again. I averaged the groups in sets of three, four and three, and stretched the contrast again. I then averaged the sets, created and removed another background, stretched the contrast one last time and applied an unsharp mask (5.0, 0.5, 0.0). Finally I rotated, cropped and reduced the image by 1/3.

M82 is "peculiar" galaxy undergoing a burst of star formation. The reddish color is real created by the new, young stars heating the surrounding gas into brightly shining HII regions. The splotchy, irregular shape is also real and is caused by clouds of dust in M82, which block its own light. M82 is 8,500,000 l.y. distant and 25,000 l.y. across. M82's unusual shape, made all the more apparent when contrasted with nearby M81, make it a favorite for small telescopes.

25.0 mm eyepiece with reducer-corrector (31.5×)
This is a combination of fifteen 20 s, f/4.9, ISO 400 images. I removed a flatfield from each and enhanced its contrast. Then I combined subsets of three photos. I then literally added subset images 1+2+3, effectively creating a 60 sec exposure, and 4+5 adjusting the brightness to match the other combination. I averaged these two images together, created a new flatfield to remove the residual background and enhanced the contrast a last time.

M96 is a sprial galaxy 29,000,000 l.y. away in the Leo galaxy group. Only the nucleus of the galaxy is evident in this photo. M96 makes an interesting group with M95 and M105 but I find the others just a bit too widely separated (across the sky) to take advantage.

25.0 mm eyepiece with reducer-corrector (31.5×)
This is a combination of twenty-three 20 s, f/4.9, ISO 400 photos. I removed a flatfield from each and enhanced its contrast. Next I combined subsets of four photos, except the last which only involved three, and enhanced the contrast on these. I then literally added subset images 1+2+3 and 4+5+6, effectively creating 60 sec exposures. I averaged these two images together, created a new flatfield to remove the residual background and enhanced the contrast a last time. Move the cursor over the photo to see the galaxies labeled.

M105 is an E1 elliptical galaxy 22,000,000 l.y. away in the Leo galaxy group. The core of this elliptical is quite evident with a faint haze hinting at the true extent. NGC 3384 is E7 elliptical companion to M105 approximately 28,000,000 l.y. distant. NGC 3389 is a much fainter edge-on spiral in the background at 50,000,000 l.y.

25.0 mm eyepiece with reducer-corrector (31.5×)
This is a combination of thirty-nine 20 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 photos. I removed a background and enhanced the individual images. I then combined them in subgroups of five or six. I, again, enhanced the subgroups and combined them into an image containing all the original photos. I removed a residual background and enhanced the final image again. Move the cursor over the image to see the galaxies indicated and labeled.

M66 in the lower left, M65 in the lower right and NGC 3628 near the top and left of center all fit within a 1.5° circle, which happens to be about the size of the field of view of the lowest power on my telescope. Because the night was questionable, but I could see M65 and M66 in the eyepiece, I opted to try to get all three galaxies in a single field of view. Close but no cigar. NGC 3628 is so faint that I can't call it a detection. When I further enhance the image, I get a faint smudge in the correct location but, just from this photo, it could be anything including a error in my image. I'll certainly try this again with M65 and M66 on a better night and, maybe, try for all three again too.

M65 is an Sb spiral lying 29,000,000 l.y. away in the Virgo Cluster. M66 is an Sb spiral and lies 25,000,000 l.y. away. NGC 3628 is also an Sb spiral at 32,000,000 l.y.

M86 and M84 are the brightest members of a "clump" in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Move your cursor over the photo to see M86, M84 and nine other galaxies identified. Note that NGC 4435 and 4387 have foreground stars in their lines of sight and so may seem more obvious than they really are. Although both M86 and M84 appear to be featureless elliptical galaxies in this photo, scientific research has revealed that both have significant quantities of dust, M84, in particular, has a dust lane. Thus, they are considered lenticular galaxies of type S0 which have probably cannibalized a companion galaxy recently. The other galaxies are a mix of spiral and elliptical galaxies.

The Virgo Custer contains 1000 - 2000 galaxies centered on a spot about 59,000,000 l.y. away in the direction of the constellation Virgo (thus the name). Our own Milky Way's Local Group of galaxies is only a small group on the periphery of the Virgo Cluster.

25.0 mm eyepiece (50.0×)
Created by averaging seven 8 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 images. The contrast is strongly enhanced (intensity to the fourth power).
Move the cursor over the photo to see 3C 273 and the magnitudes of some nearby stars indicated.

3C 273 is the faint blue object in the center of the photo. The magnitudes are expressed in tenths, e.g. 101 = magnitude 10.1, so one can not confuse the decimal points with objects in the photo. This information was taken from "3C 273: Catch the Brightest Quasar" by Alan M. MacRobert, Sky & Telescope, Vol. 109, No. 5, May 2005, pages 83 - 84.

Although it appears unimpressive, 3C 273 is one of the most distant objects accessible to a small telescope. The other galaxies included here are a few million to a few tens of millions of light-years distant. 3C 273 is 1,900,000,000 (that's 1.9 billion not million) light-years from us. The simple fact that we can still see it at that distance implies that this single object is emitting the total equivalent energy output by hundreds of galaxies. Quasars or "quasi-stellar" objects like 3C 273 are believed to be massive black holes gobbling their parent galaxies and, by that process, emitting the light we see.

25.0 mm eyepiece (50.0×)
Created by averaging six 30 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 images. A flat-field was removed and the contrast is strongly enhanced.

M49 in the center of the image, is an E4 elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. The foreground star just to the east (left) is 13 magnitude. This photo illustrates the abundance of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Two of the "stars" in the field are, given their positions, probably the nuclei of other Virgo Cluster galaxies. M49 is 41,000,000 l.y. distant and 110,000 l.y. across.

25.0 mm eyepiece; 3.0× telephoto; (150.0×)
An average of seven 30 s, f/4.9, ISO 400 photos. I removed a flat-field and enhanced the contrast. Note, as shown, this image is effectively 1.5× the magnification of the others.
Move the cursor over the photo to see several of the confirmed galaxies in the photo identified.

M87 is an E1 elliptical galaxy most famous for its radio, visual and X-ray jet powered by a large black hole at its center. The jet is not visible here but can be seen in images from larger telescopes. M87 is 41,000,000 l.y. distant and at the center of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The Virgo Cluster is huge containing many, many members. A galaxy of galaxies, so to say. One can get a feel for how many galaxies are involved by noting that there are three other Virgo Cluster members in this photo and several more that aren't visible. The funny shaped stars are caused by poor tracking on my part while taking the original photos.

2009-05-10
White balance = 6000K (Cloudy)
Noise reduction = Off
Prime focus (32.5×)
This is a combination of fifty-ine 20 s - ISO 800 photos. I removed an average dark frame and a flat field, then stretched the contrast on each individual photo. I averaged the photos in three groups of eight and three groups of nine, and stretched the contrast again. I averaged the groups, created and removed another background and stretched the contrast one last time. Finally I applied a Gaussian 7×7 blur, rotated, cropped and reduced the image by 1/3. The faintest stars in this image are about magnitude 16.5.

This is a nearly edge on Sb spiral galaxy with a prominent dust lane, just visible in this photo, bisecting the central bulge. The interesting appearance of M104 is evident even with a small telescope from a dark site. M104 is 41,000,00 l.y. distant and is another member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

25.0 mm eyepiece (50.0×)
This is a combination of forty-five 20 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 photos. First I created my flatfield. I then removed the flatfield from each photo, eliminating the poorer photos at the same time, and enhanced the contrast. Next, I combined the individual photos into subgroups of five. I created another flatfield from the combination of all subgroups and removed this new flatfield from each subgroup and enhanced the result. Finally, I the combined the subgroups into the final image.

M94 has a very bright core with much fainter but, interestingly, very tightly wrapped spiral arms. This photo just captures the brighter inner part of the galaxy. The galaxy's disk should extend about half way to the nearer stars to the right and below. It is approximately 33 million l.y. distant and believed to be gravitationally associated with M51 and several smaller galaxies.

2009-04-04
White balance = 6000K (Cloudy)
Noise reduction = Off
This is a combination of twenty-nine 20 s, ISO 800 photos. A flatfield was removed from each and the contrast was stretched. The modified images were averaged in five groups of five and one of four, and the contrast stretched again. These were averaged and the contrast stretched on last time. Finally I rotated, cropped and reduced the image by 1/3.

This is another Sb spiral galaxy with a dark dust lane, visible in this photo, to the north-east of the central bluge, which inspired this galaxy's common moniker. This is a more challenging object for a small telescope but I have seen M64 and its dust lane from a dark site. M64 is 12,000,000 l.y. distant.

2009-05-23
Prime focus (32.5×)
Created from the fifty best20 s, ISO 1600 photos. I removed a dark frame and flat field from each photo, then enhanced the contrast. I averaged these together in groups of ten and enhanced the contrast again. I then averaged the five groups and enhanced the contrast. Finally I cropped the image and reduced the scale by 33.3%.

The Sunflower Galaxy is an Sb type spiral galaxy 37,000 l.y. away. In this photo you can clearly see the bright core and some of the brighter parts of the outer arms. Just visible are some of the dark dust lanes. In better photos than this one, the combination of brighter star-forming regions with the dark dust lanes gives this galaxy a mottled appearance reminiscent of a sunflower.

2009-05-10
White balance = 6000K (Cloudy)
Noise reduction = Off
Prime focus (32.5×)
Created from the one hundred best 20 s, ISO 1600 photos. I removed a dark frame and flat field from each photo, then enhanced the contrast. I averaged these together in groups of five and enhanced the contrast again. I then average the twenty groups in groups of five and enhanced the contrast. I averaged the resulting four groups of twenty-five and strongly enhanced the contrast once again. Finally I rotated the image to north-up, cropped it and reduced the scale by a factor of three.

Beyond it striking appearance, this Sc spiral galaxy is famous as the first whose sprial structure was observed (Lord Rosse in 1845). The brighter parts of the two spiral arms are visible while careful examination reveals some of the extended dust lanes within those arms. To the north, north-east is the companion galaxy, NGC 5195. These companions are definitely interacting with each other. Scientific investigations have traced a stream of stars and gas connecting the two. M51 is 37,000,000 l.y. distant. I've always thought M51 disappointing through a small telescope but blurted "wow!" the first time I saw it through a larger telescope.

25.0 mm eyepiece (50.0×)
This photo was created by averaging four 30 s, f/2.8, ISO 400 photos. A background field was removed and the contrast is strongly enhanced.

In a better picture than this, M83 is an amazing barred spiral galaxy seen nearly face on. Here, all that is visible is the very brightest part of the nucleus found at the center of the image. M83 is 8,500,000 l.y. distance and 40,000 l.y. across.

2009-05-30
White balance = 6000K (Cloudy)
Noise reduction = Off
prime focus (32.5×)
This is created from my seventy-five best 30 s, ISO 1600 photos. I removed a dark frame and flat field from each, then I enhanced the contrast and applied a 3×3 Gaussian blur to each. I averaged the modified photos in groups of seven, eight and six groups of ten, and enhanced the contrast. I average the groups, removed the residual background and enhanced. Finally, I reduced the image by a factor of three and cropped.

Burnham calls M101 "one of the finest examples of a large face-on Sc type sprial." While true, M101 can be disappointing in a small telescope because very little of its struture is evident. I know that from a dark site, careful examination can reveal a few of its brighter star forming regions, but here in town, I could only spot a faint hint of its central bulge. However, in photographs, M101's true grandeur becomes evident. My photo starts to show its structure and size but doesn't really do M101 justice.

M101 is the dominant member of the M101 Group of galaxies, and is approximately 27,000,000 l.y. distant.