| "The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 82) |
Astrophotography by Jason Jennings |
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| Galaxies :: M63 - Sunflower Galaxy | |
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| Resolutions Available: 780x780 : 1560x1560 | |
| Object | M63 - Sunflower Galaxy |
| Comment |
Located in the constellation Canes Venatici is the bright spiral galaxy Messier 63 (M63 aka NGC 5055). M63 is more commonly known as the Sunflower galaxy due to its brilliant circular structure. Large spiralling arms glow blue from young bright stars and are dotted with red emission nebulae from hot ionized hydrogen gas and brown dark dust lanes. M63 is resides 37 million light years away. This image is a LRGB composite. A synth lum was combine with regular luminance data (weighted differently) to provide a deeper image with the limited data set. Data acquired on the Lightbuckets 24" RCOS. |
| Optics | RCOS 24" F/8 (4876 mm FL) |
| Camera | Apogee Alta U42 - 1x1 bin (image scale .57 arcsec/pix) |
| Mount | RCOS Professional Series Equatorial Fork |
| Exposure |
Total exposure time: 2.2 hours (Luminance:48min ,RGB:84min - 28min per channel) |
| Date | April 2011 |