Andrea Alessandrelli
Messier 94 - NGC 4736 - The Croc's Eye Galaxy
Messier 94 (also known as NGC 4736) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier two days later. Although some references describe M94 as a barred spiral galaxy, the "bar" structure appears to be more oval-shaped. The galaxy has two ring structures.
M94 contains both an inner ring with a diameter of 70 arcseconds (approximately 5400 LY, 1.700 kpc at the distance of M94) and an outer ring with a diameter of 600 arcseconds (approx. 45,000 LY, 14 kpc). These rings appear to form at resonance locations within the disk of the galaxy. The inner ring is the site of strong star formation activity and is sometimes referred to as a starburst ring. This star formation is fueled by gas that is dynamically driven into the ring by the inner oval-shaped bar-like structure.
Acquired on April 2020
Luminance - 214 x 60 sec
Light pollution - 77 x 120 sec
Red - 51 x 120 sec
Green - 46 x 120 sec
Blue - 59 x 120 sec
Total integration time -11:20 hours
Imaging telescope, mount and camera:
TS Optics Ritchey-Chrétien 203/1080-1624 mm with 0.67x AP reducer.
Celestron CGEM-DX
ASI1600MM-Cool
Processed with: Pixinsight and Photoshop CC
Location:
Home Backyard, Geleen, Limburg, Netherlands (Bortle 6/7)
Messier 94 - NGC 4736 - The Croc's Eye Galaxy
Messier 94 (also known as NGC 4736) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier two days later. Although some references describe M94 as a barred spiral galaxy, the "bar" structure appears to be more oval-shaped. The galaxy has two ring structures.
M94 contains both an inner ring with a diameter of 70 arcseconds (approximately 5400 LY, 1.700 kpc at the distance of M94) and an outer ring with a diameter of 600 arcseconds (approx. 45,000 LY, 14 kpc). These rings appear to form at resonance locations within the disk of the galaxy. The inner ring is the site of strong star formation activity and is sometimes referred to as a starburst ring. This star formation is fueled by gas that is dynamically driven into the ring by the inner oval-shaped bar-like structure.
Acquired on April 2020
Luminance - 214 x 60 sec
Light pollution - 77 x 120 sec
Red - 51 x 120 sec
Green - 46 x 120 sec
Blue - 59 x 120 sec
Total integration time -11:20 hours
Imaging telescope, mount and camera:
TS Optics Ritchey-Chrétien 203/1080-1624 mm with 0.67x AP reducer.
Celestron CGEM-DX
ASI1600MM-Cool
Processed with: Pixinsight and Photoshop CC
Location:
Home Backyard, Geleen, Limburg, Netherlands (Bortle 6/7)