2022-04-27 / Click on image to enlarge
galacticsights
astrophotography
M64, Black Eye Galaxy
Technical Details
| Location | Zollikerberg, Switzerland |
| Camera | Nikon DSLR D810A |
| Telescope | TS ONTC 12" f/4 Carbon Newton |
| Optics | TS 2,5" Wynne Coma Corrector |
| Focal Length | 1113mm |
| Mount | iOptron CEM120 Center-Balanced Equatorial Mount |
| Autoguiding | MGEN-3 (Dithering) |
| Focuser | Moonlite |
| Planetarium Software | Stellarium | Image Session Control | APT - Astro Photography Tool v3.88, ASCOM Platform 6 |
| Lights | 71 x 120s (total 2h22'), ISO-1600, additional Biases, Flats, no Darks |
| Stacking Software | Pixinsight 1.8, Drizzle 2x |
| Image Processing | Pixinsight 1.8 |
M64, or the Black Eye galaxy, is located 17 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices. With an apparent magnitude of 9.8, the Black Eye galaxy is best observed in May.
Easily identified by the spectacular band of absorbing dust partially obscuring its bright nucleus, M64 is characterized by its bizarre internal motion. The gas in the outer regions of this remarkable galaxy is rotating in the opposite direction from the gas and stars in its inner regions. This strange behavior can be attributed to a merger between M64 and a satellite galaxy over a billion years ago.
New stars are forming in the region where the oppositely rotating gases collide, are compressed, and then contract. (Text partially from NASA Hubble's Messier Catalog)