NGC 4565 - Needle Galaxy
NGC 4565, also known as the Needle Galaxy, is an edge-on spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light years from Earth. Astronomers believe that our own Milky Way galaxy would appear this thin if viewed edge-on.
This image was selected as the Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day on May 19, 2019.
To the upper left is galaxy NGC 4562 (59 million light years away), and the small smudge just below and to the right is galaxy IC 3571 (58 million light years away).
This is the first image taken with our new mount, an Officina Stellare direct drive polar fork mount, through an Officina Stellare RiLA 600mm f/5.0 telescope and an FLI ML16200 CCD cooled to -25C. All subexposures were unguided. 80 8-minute luminance shots collected detail, while 140 4-minute RGB images added color. In total, more than 20 hours of light was collected over six nights, at our observatory one hour west of Bangkok.
Imaged and processed by the SC Observatory team: Mike Selby, Stefan Schmidt and Andy Chatman.
Object details
Galaxy in Coma Berenices
Right Ascension: 12h 36m 20.8s
Declination: +25° 59′ 16″
Magnitude: 10.42
Moon Age Average: N/A
Moon Phase Average: N/A
Imaging Setup
Location:
SC Observatory, Central Thailand
Date:
Apr 14, 2018, Apr 15, 2018, Apr 17, 2018, Apr 18, 2018, Apr 19, 2018 and Apr 21, 2018
Telescope:
Officina Stellare RiLA 600
Focal Length:
3000 mm
F-Ratio:
F/5
Mount:
Officina Stellare Direct Drive Polar Fork
Camera:
FLI ML 16200
Image Scale:
0.41 arcseconds/pixel
Imaging Software:
Voyager
Processing Software:
Adobe Photoshop
PixInsight 1.8
Exposure Detail
| Filter | Filter Brand | Bin | Qty | Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L | Astrodon | 1x | 80 | 480 |
| R | Astrodon | 2x | 54 | 240 |
| G | Astrodon | 2x | 45 | 240 |
| B | Astrodon | 2x | 49 | 240 |
