Messier 66 (M66) Galaxy
M66 Spiral galaxy is a member of the Leo Trio group. It is about 100,000 light years across and has had 3 supernovas since 1989. Its asymmetrical and elongated arms are artifacts of tidal forces from the other members of the Leo Trio.
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Equipment
- Celestron 11 on a CGEM mount, Atik 460EX (luminance), Starizona F7.5 coma corrector, Orion off axis guider, and Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 autoguider for guiding.
Image
- Luminance: 25 3-Minute exposures (1.25 hours) F7.5 with an Atik 460EX
R,G,B: 23X 1-Minute, 25X 1-Minute, 35X 1-Minute exposures (1.45 Hrs) with the Hyperstar from Leo Trio page.
Software
- PHD2 for scope guiding. Nebulosity for image capture, calibration, stacking, and preliminary processing. Photoshop CS5.1 for final processing and Noiseware noise reduction.
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