ETX-105 Astrophotography
Image Gallery Index
Galaxy Gallery

Galaxies are very challenging objects with the ETX. Usually only the bright cores are visible, but sometimes color and structure can be captured.
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NGC891 Galaxy
NGC891

Edge-on spiral galaxy. 10 million light-years away. Magnitude 10.1. Composite of 84 (out of 296) 40-second exposures. Full color image.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast,  in GIMP

October 30, 2005
M106 Galaxy
M106

Spiral galaxy with two prominent arms. 25 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.4. Composite of 63 (out of 140) 60-second exposures. Full color image.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast,  in GIMP

April 30, 2004
M81 Galaxy
NGC4565

Large spiral galaxy 31 million light-years away, viewed edge-on. You can see the dust lanes bisecting the central bulge. Magnitude 9.6. Click image for a wider view. Composite of 25 (out of 87) 78-second exposures. Full color image.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP

April 28, 2004
M81 Galaxy
M81
Bode's Galaxy

Spiral galaxy 11 million light-years away. Magnitude 6.9. A dust lane is apparent to the lower right of the center. Composite of 24 (out of 60) 78-second exposures. Full color image.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Despeckle in GIMP

April 24, 2004
Cigar Galaxy
M82
Cigar Galaxy


Irregular galaxy near the large spiral galaxy M81. 11 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.4. The galaxy is bisected by dark dust lanes. M82 is undergoing a lot of star-forming activity probably caused by a close encounter with M81. Composite of 18 (out of 56) 78-second exposures. Full color.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/9
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor + IR-block filter
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP

March 04, 2004
2:00am PST
M51 Galaxy
M51
Whirlpool Galaxy

Magnitude 8.4 face-on spiral galaxy with companion galaxy. 37 million light years. This seems to be the best I can do with my gear. A dust lane is visible running along the center of the upper inside spiral arm. Brighter spots on the arms are star-forming regions. Composite of 58 (out of 184) 60-second exposures. Full color image.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Unsharp mask in GIMP

May 16, 2004
Sombrero Galaxy
M104
Sombrero Galaxy


Large galaxy 50 million light-years away. Magnitude 8.0. M104 is encircled by a very large dust band. You can see it here passing horizontally across just below the core. Composite of 15 (out of 80) 78-second exposures.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Despeckle in the GIMP

April 28, 2004

M49 Galaxy
M49

Giant elliptical galaxy 60 million light years away in the Virgo Cluster. Magnitude 8.4. Only the bright core and central regions are visible here. Composite of 19 78-second exposures. Color image converted to B&W (no IR-block filter).

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur

March 16, 2004

Black Eye Galaxy
M64
Black Eye Galaxy


Spiral galaxy 19 million light years away. Magnitude 8.5. The dark dust lanes that give the galaxy its name are just above-left of the center. Composite of 32 (out of 152) 60-second exposures. Full color.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP

May 9, 2004

M101
M101

Large spiral galaxy 27 million light years away. Magnitude 7.9.  The spiral arms are faint, and just barely detected here. Parts of the arms appear as disconnected patches, including one in the lower right corner. Composite of 90 (out of 194) 60-second exposures. Full color. Slightly hazy conditions.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP

May 26, 2004

NGC5982
NGC5985, NGC5982, NGC5981 (l to r)
Galaxy Group


Group of three galaxies, magnitude 11.0, 11.1, 13.0 repectively. 5985 is a spiral viewed obliquely, 5982 is an elliptical, and 5981 is a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on. Composite of 100 (out of 150) 60-second exposures. Full color. Some light haze, occasional thin clouds.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur in GIMP

May 27, 2004

NGC6503
NGC 6503

A small spiral galaxy in Draco, but relatively bright for its size. Magnitude 10.2. Composite of 85 (out of 110) 60-second exposures. Full color.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian blur, Unsharp mask

June 5, 2004

Spindle Galaxy
NGC 3115
Spindle Galaxy


Lenticular galaxy 22 million light years away. Magnitude 9.9. Composite of three 78-second exposures. Full color (no IR-block filter).

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast, Gaussian Blur

February 12, 2004

Andromeda Galaxy
M31
Andromeda Galaxy


Only the bright central core and inner part of this nearby spiral galaxy show up in this exposure. M31 is the closest large galaxy, just 2.9 million light-years away. Composite of 12-second exposures taken in B&W mode.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast

September 18, 2003
12:00am PDT
3C273
Quasar 3C273

Quasars are extremely bright, but very distant galaxies with active cores. This is the brightest in our sky, about magnitude 13 and about 2 billion light-years away. Composite of 24 (out of 120) 40-second exposures.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Adjust levels, Contrast

May 11, 2004

PG1634+706
Quasar PG1634+706

This is probably the most distant object accessible to the ETX/webcam astrophotographer. About magnitude 14.8, this quasar has redshift z=1.3 corresponding to a distance of about 2800 Mpc or >9 billion light-years. That's 2/3 of the way to the edge of the visible universe! Composite of 86 (out of 128) 60-second exposures. Click image for wider field of view.

Telescope: Meade ETX-105 EC at f/7.5
Camera: MI-1300 CMOS sensor
Image Processing: Composite in Registax; Unshap mask, Adjust levels, Contrast in GIMP

June 5, 2004


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