March 30, 2008

9:30pm - 1am

The LXD-75 was aligned with Polaris and Regalus and focused with M67.

M66

Located about 35 million light years away, M66 is another spiral galaxy discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.  The galaxy's spiral arms appear distorted, likely the result of gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies like M65.

This image comprises about 75, 15-second sub-exposures (roughly 19 minutes total exposure.

M109

I returned to M109, hoping to obtain a better image with more sub-exposures.  The below image is a stack of 146, 15-second sub-exposures.

M109 is located about 55 million light years away and is receding from the Milky Way at 1142 km/sec.  It is part of the Ursa Major Cluster of galaxies.

M99

I had intended to compile a large stack of sub-exposures for M99, but clouds moved in and foiled my plans.  As a result the following image is a stack of only 40, 15-second sub-exposures (total exposure time: 10 minutes).

 M99 is a member of the Virgo Cluster and is believed to be about 60 million light years away and receding from the Milky Way at a rather fast 2324 km/sec.