John Frattura
Galaxy M104 in Virgo, 33 minutes
Pound for pound the brightest galaxy in the sky.
Taken March 27th and April 11th.
Ranked by magnitude, this is the 8th brightest galaxy in the sky. However the 7 that are brighter are all bigger, so their total light is spread over a larger area, giving them a lower surface brightness.
From where I live, this galaxy never gets higher than 37 degrees above the southern horizon. So I've never even attempted to view this galaxy, because I've never had much luck finding targets that low in the southern sky (it's usually too milky). But I gave it a try when it was at it's highest, and there it was, clearly visible in 15 second exposures.
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"The Sombrero Galaxy" was discovered on May 11, 1781 by Pierre Méchain. Since Charles Messier had written notes about this galaxy, it was decided in 1921 to add this galaxy to the Messier Catalogue as M104.
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Only 33 minutes total exposure time.
Meade 2120 LX5 telescope.
Canon T2i camera.
no guider, no filters.
no flat frames, no dark frames, etc.
no stacking program.
short exposures (15 seconds), with the contrast pushed a little.
hand aligned and averaged together.
plenty of light pollution.
No noise reduction or processing, just stacking.
Galaxy M104 in Virgo, 33 minutes
Pound for pound the brightest galaxy in the sky.
Taken March 27th and April 11th.
Ranked by magnitude, this is the 8th brightest galaxy in the sky. However the 7 that are brighter are all bigger, so their total light is spread over a larger area, giving them a lower surface brightness.
From where I live, this galaxy never gets higher than 37 degrees above the southern horizon. So I've never even attempted to view this galaxy, because I've never had much luck finding targets that low in the southern sky (it's usually too milky). But I gave it a try when it was at it's highest, and there it was, clearly visible in 15 second exposures.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"The Sombrero Galaxy" was discovered on May 11, 1781 by Pierre Méchain. Since Charles Messier had written notes about this galaxy, it was decided in 1921 to add this galaxy to the Messier Catalogue as M104.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Only 33 minutes total exposure time.
Meade 2120 LX5 telescope.
Canon T2i camera.
no guider, no filters.
no flat frames, no dark frames, etc.
no stacking program.
short exposures (15 seconds), with the contrast pushed a little.
hand aligned and averaged together.
plenty of light pollution.
No noise reduction or processing, just stacking.