March 29, 2008

10pm – 12:30am 

Telescope was aligned with Polaris and Regalus. Focus was achieved using M67 (an open cluster in Cancer).

NGC 2903

Though a fairly prominent spiral galaxy in Leo, I hadn't tried to image NGC 2903 before.  The galaxy showed up easily in one-second preview images and was thus easy to center in the LXD-75's FOV.

This image is composed of 112, 15-second sub-exposures for a total of 28 minutes of exposure. 

Below is the same image, using a slightly different processing technique.

NGC 2903 is thought to be about 20 million light years distant and is notable for being missed by French astronomer Charles Messier, despite its overall brightness and easily viewed location in the night sky (for Northern Hemisphere skywatchers).  The spiral is seen almost face-on, but at a slight tilt, giving an excellent view of the dust and star clouds that form its arms.

M65

Messier may have missed NGC 2903, but he didn't miss any of the other bright galaxies in Leo, including M65.  Messier noted this galaxy in his catalog in March 1780, along with its nearby companion M66. 

This image is composed of about 86, 15-second sub-exposures (about 22 minutes total exposure).  This dust lanes in this spiral galaxy's arms are clearly visible, though the galaxy is at a considerable tilt when viewed from our own.

 M65 is generally believed to be about 35 million light years away.