April 2021
Imaging: ST120 achro, Canon 1000D 400ISO, NeodymiumSubs: 179x180s (9h), bias, darks, and flats
Software: NINA, Phd2, PixInsight
(Additional notes below)
Gallery
Notes
The Leo Triple is a triplet of galaxies about 35M LY from us. From Wikipedia, the one in the lower right is Messier 66 which is a spiral galaxy about 100K LY in width, about the same size as our Milky Way. The one in the upper right is Messier 65, another spiral galaxy about 90K LY in width. The last galaxy NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy. It has a 100K LY long tidal tail.I started imaging this at the end of March 2021. It was excitement then disappointment in this period. I received my TS Optics 80mm scope and immediately switched to it. Unfortunately, I soon realized that it had pinched optics with star flaring on the bright stars. I tried to fix the problem with instructions from the vendor, but the scope had to be sent back to Germany for repair. Hence, this image is with my old Orion ST120 achromat telescope.
Now, this galaxy triple may just look like fuzzy marks on a photograph but do allow me to nerd out. These galaxies are 35 million LY away from us: in miles, that is about 200000000000000000000 miles away! The light photons that hit my camera sensor to make this image left those galaxies 35 million years ago, halfway since the dinosaurs went extinct, and more than 25 million years before we humans split from the great apes. This is the furthest thing I have ever imaged, and it amazes me that we have built technology that allows me to take a picture of this from my Edison backyard.