NGC 4676, known as the Mice Galaxies, are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices, approximately 290 million light years from Earth. The long tails result from tidal action — the relative difference in gravitation pull on the near (colliding) and far sides of the galaxies. The galaxies are incredibly dim and small, providing quite a challenge from our light polluted skies outside of Bangkok.
This image was taken with our Officina Stellare RiLA 600 f/5.0 telescope on an Officina Stellare direct drive polar fork mount. An FLI ML16200 CCD camera, chilled to -25C, captured 16-1/2 hours of luminance detail and 9 hours of color detail. The imaging system is controlled using Voyager software. Image processing in PixInsight and Photoshop.
Imaged and processed in Samphran, Thailand by the SC Observatory team: Mike Selby, Stefan Schmidt and Andy Chatman.
Galaxy in Coma Berenices
Right Ascension: 12h 46m 10.1s
Declination: +30° 43′ 55″
Magnitude: 14.7
Moon Age Average: N/A
Moon Phase Average: N/A
SC Observatory, Central Thailand
Voyager
Adobe Photoshop
PixInsight 1.8
Filter | Filter Brand | Bin | Qty | Exposure |
---|---|---|---|---|
L | Astrodon | 1x | 2 | 720 |
L | Astrodon | 1x | 68 | 600 |
L | Astrodon | 1x | 28 | 480 |
R | Astrodon | 2x | 55 | 240 |
G | Astrodon | 2x | 47 | 240 |
B | Astrodon | 2x | 44 | 240 |