M64, the Blackeye Galaxy |
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| M64 is a pleasing galaxy visible during
so-called "Galaxy Season" in the Northern Hemisphere. It's
reasonably sized and bright, enough that it is visible with an
8" telescope even from my light-polluted back yard. M64 is nicknamed the Black Eye Galaxy. It earned this moniker thanks to its distinctly large dust lane. I recall a picture of this galaxy in an older book on the universe, and in that picture it really looked like a black eye staring back at me from the void of space. |
| Constellation: Coma Berenices |
| When Visible: February - May |
| Distance: 19 Million Light-years |
| Date: May 2005 |
| Location: West Chester, Ohio |
| Exposure Details: L: 14 x 10 Minutes binned 1x1 R: 6 x 5 Minutes binned 2x2 G: 6 x 5 Minutes binned 2x2 B: 6 x 5 Minutes binned 2x2 |
| Equipment Used: Celestron C8 with f/6.3 reducer on a Takahashi EM200 Temma 2 mount. SBIG ST-8XE camera with CFW-8a filter wheel and Astrodon LRGB filters. |
| Acquisition Software : CCDSoft |
| Processing Software: CCDSoft, Photoshop 5.0 |