drdavies07
Messier 108
Here is an image of M 108, NGC 3556 in Ursa Major, captured over several nights between 25 February and 25 March 2019.
This object has no entry of its own in the Charles Messier's original catalogue, but it is mentioned in a note on the observation of M 97, in February 1781, and noted as a nebula near M 97 but even fainter. So perhaps it should have been number 98 in the catalogue but was not mentioned further. It was only in 1953 that Owen Gingerich suggested that this object be added to the catalogue as M 108.
M 108 was further observed by William Herschel in 1789 who also noted the 12th magnitude foreground star almost in the centre of the galaxy. This star can be seen clearly in this image, as can its 15.2 mag companion known as Brenner's Star.
M 108 belongs to the Ursa Major group of galaxies and is around 46 million light years distant. It has a similar size to the Milky Way at 100,000 light years across and we are viewing it almost edge-on. Some consider it to be a barred spiral.
In this image, we can see some HII and star-forming regions in the galaxy and many other, fainter galaxies across the image.
The image comprises 32 x five-minutes luminance and 10 x five-minutes red, green and blue images.
Telescope: 8" Ritchey-Chretien at 1660mm focal length
Camera: QSI 583 with a Lodestar as the off-axis guide camera
Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Location: Cambridge, UK
Messier 108
Here is an image of M 108, NGC 3556 in Ursa Major, captured over several nights between 25 February and 25 March 2019.
This object has no entry of its own in the Charles Messier's original catalogue, but it is mentioned in a note on the observation of M 97, in February 1781, and noted as a nebula near M 97 but even fainter. So perhaps it should have been number 98 in the catalogue but was not mentioned further. It was only in 1953 that Owen Gingerich suggested that this object be added to the catalogue as M 108.
M 108 was further observed by William Herschel in 1789 who also noted the 12th magnitude foreground star almost in the centre of the galaxy. This star can be seen clearly in this image, as can its 15.2 mag companion known as Brenner's Star.
M 108 belongs to the Ursa Major group of galaxies and is around 46 million light years distant. It has a similar size to the Milky Way at 100,000 light years across and we are viewing it almost edge-on. Some consider it to be a barred spiral.
In this image, we can see some HII and star-forming regions in the galaxy and many other, fainter galaxies across the image.
The image comprises 32 x five-minutes luminance and 10 x five-minutes red, green and blue images.
Telescope: 8" Ritchey-Chretien at 1660mm focal length
Camera: QSI 583 with a Lodestar as the off-axis guide camera
Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Location: Cambridge, UK