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NGC 6744
This galaxy lies about 30 million light-years away in the
southern constellation of Pavo and is about 170,000
light-years across. It is an intermediate galaxy, which
means it is in between a barred and an unbarred galaxy
(the bar stretching across the center of the galaxy)
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NGC 247
In the southern constellation of Cetus lies NGC 247. Cetus
is the sea monster that both Perseus and Hercules were to
slay. Perseus saved Andromeda from Poseidon's wrath when
he killed the monster. It is also one of the 12 Zodiac
constellations. It lies outside the galactic plane which
leaves it unobstructed by dust and gas in the Milky Way.
Note the far-distant galaxy PGC 834794 in the upper-left
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NGC 1291
NGC 1291 is what is called a Ring
Galaxy. Its outer ring is still producing new stars at
a slow rate. Even though it has an unusual inner bar, it
is classified as a lenticular galaxy. It also has a large
central bulge. It is an early-type galaxy, which means that
it has a lot of old globular clusters, 65% of which are
metal-poor. The rest are newer, metal-rich globular
clusters. It is nearly face-on and lies about
33 million light-years away
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Messier 66
M66 is an
intermediate spiral galaxy located in the
constellation Leo (The Lion). It is part of a
group of galaxies known as the Leo Triplet. It lies
about 31 million light-years from Earth and has been
disfigured by a gravitational encounter of some kind
in the past
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: October 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 117x5min LRGB 9hrs 15min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: July - August 2022
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: FLI PL9000 @ -25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 44x10min LRGB 7hrs 10min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: July - December 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: FLI PL9000 @ -25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 50x50min LRGB 4hrs 10min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: June 23, 2023
- Mount: Officina Stellare EQ Mount
- Telescope: Officina Stellare Pro RC 700 (27" f/8)
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c SPA-2
- Exposure: 81x2 min LRGB 2hrs 40min
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Messier 74 - The Phantom Galaxy
Messier 74 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pisces.
It lies about 32 million light-years away and is known for its
well-defined spiral arms. Because of its low surface brightness,
it is sometimes called the Phantom Galaxy
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NGC 300
NGC 300 is a spiral galaxy in Sculptor. It is about 6 million
light-years away and although not quite a part of it, is very
close to our Local Group of galaxies. Although we see it at a
different angle, it is very similar to the Triangulum Galaxy
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NGC 1232 - The Eye of God Galaxy
This galaxy is technically of the Grand Design family of galaxies,
although it is normally classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy.
It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 and lies about
61 million light-years away. It also appears to have been disturbed
by a gravitational encounter, as the spiral arms on the right side
are disfigured. I always enjoy processing galaxies in deep-sky fields.
Once I'm done I can zoom in real tight and count the other distant
galaxies. I counted 401 galaxies in one image that I did recently
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NGC 1313 - The Topsy Turvy Galaxy
This galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop back in 1826. It has a
diameter of about 50,000 light-years which is about half the size
of the Milky Way. It is in the constellation Reticulum and lies
about 13 million light-years away. It is an irregular galaxy as
well as a field galaxy. A field galaxy is one that is not part of
a galaxy group which leaves it gravitationally alone
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: November 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c (CHI-1)
- Exposure: 57x5min LRGB 4hrs 45min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: June 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 36x5min LRGB 4hrs 40min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: December 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 105x5min LRGB 8hrs 15min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: October - November 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c (CHI-1)
- Exposure: 125x5min LRGB 9hrs 55min
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NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy
This galaxy is located in the constellation Sagittarius and although it
looks like an elliptical galaxy, it is actually a barred irregular galaxy.
Most of its stars were formed in the last 3–5 billion years. It lies about
1.63 million light-years away from us. Although it's difficult to see in
this image, the galaxy actually extends outward considerably from the
bright central area. At the 11:30, 1 o'clock, and 2 o'clock positions there
are three very active Hydrogen II star formation areas
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Markarian's Chain
Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies in the constellation Virgo that
form a curved line, or chain. The two brightest galaxies were first
cataloged by Charles Messier in 1781. The rest of the galaxies in the
chain were discovered by William Herschel. In about the center of the
chain (right side) there appear to be two interacting galaxies. There are
a couple more interacting galaxies toward the lower left. The chain is
roughly 50 million light-years away. As I was processing this image I
noticed that there were a lot of galaxies in the image. So I zoomed in
really close and counted 276 additional galaxies. Also, if you trace the
chain from right to left, it forms a well-defined question mark
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NGC 253 - The Sculptor Galaxy
This galaxy was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 while she was
looking for comets. It resides in the constellation Sculptor. It is a
starburst type galaxy, meaning that it is actively making new stars all
across the galaxy. It is thought to have a black hole at its center that
is about 5 million times the mass of our Sun. It is roughly 10.9 million
light-years away from us
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IC 1613
IC 1613 is a diffuse dwarf irregular galaxy in the constellation Cetus.
It is a member of our Local Group of galaxies and lies about 2.38 million
light-years away from Earth
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: August 10, 2021
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: FLI PL9000 @ -25c (CHI-1) (CCD)
- Exposure: 42x10min LRGB 7hrs
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: March 2024
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1
- Camera: QHY600m CMOS @ -25c
- Exposure: 60x5 min LRGB 5hrs
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: March 2024
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1
- Camera: QHY600m CMOS @ -25c
- Exposure: 65x5 min LRGB 5hrs 25min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: August 24, 2024
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 111x5 min LRGB 5hrs 55min
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NGC 3521
NGC 3521 sits about 26 million light-years away in the constellation
Leo (the Lion). It is classified as a flocculent intermediate spiral galaxy,
which means that it is a spiral galaxy with a trace of a bar and
moderately to loosely wound spiral arms
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NGC 1512
NGC 1512 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Eridanus
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Messier 33 - The Triangulum Galaxy
The Triangulum Galaxy is one of our Local Group of galaxies and is
gravitationally bound to the Andromeda Galaxy. It is the third largest
galaxy of our Local Group after the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way.
It is an average sized spiral galaxy located 3 million light-years away.
Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy and contains 40 billion stars
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NGC 2997
This galaxy was discovered by William Herschel in 1793 in the southern
constellation Antlia (the Pump). It is a Grand Design Galaxy as well as
a Barred Spiral Galaxy. The magenta knots scattered around the spiral
arms indicate active star-forming regions. 2003 and 2008 each saw a
supernova in the galaxy. It is about 40 million light-years away
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: February 2024
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c (CHI-1)
- Exposure: 40x5 min LRGB 6hrs 20min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: July 2024
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 135x5 min LRGB 10hrs 35min
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- Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
- Date: July 2023
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1
- Camera: FLI PL16083
- Exposure: 92x10min LRGB 14hrs 20min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: March 2021
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: FLI PL9000 @ -25c CHI-1 CCD
- Exposure: 49x10 min LRGB 8hrs 10min
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NGC 1398
Way out in the constellation Fornax lies this beautiful double-ringed
barred galaxy. It boasts over 100 billion stars and spans 135,000
light-years. Its distance from Earth is approximately 65 million
light-years and it was first discovered by the German astronomer
Friedrich Winnecke in 1868 while he was searching for comets
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NGC 660
This fascinating galaxy, located in Pisces, is both a peculiar galaxy
as well as a polar ring galaxy. It is thought to either be a disk
galaxy that has been accumulating matter throughout its life or a
lenticular galaxy that collided with another galaxy sometime in the
past. It is about 45 million light-years away
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Large Magellanic Cloud
The LMC is classified as a Magellanic Spiral. It has a stellar bar
that is off-center which leads us to believe that it was once a
barred spiral galaxy before its arms and structure were disrupted by
an encounter with the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). It lies
about 163,000 light-years away from Earth and has a diameter of
about 32,200 light-years
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Messier 64 - The Black Eye Galaxy
This galaxy is a Seyfert galaxy meaning that it has a quasar-like
nucleus and is an X-ray source. It has two counter-rotating discs
that have about the same mass. The counter-rotation may have been
caused by an interaction with another galaxy that had an opposite
direction (retrograde) orbit. It lies about 17 million light-years
away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It gets its name from the
dark dust lane that partially rings the nucleus giving it the
appearance of a black eye
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: November 2024
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 123x5 min LRGB 9hrs 45min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: December 2024
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 86x5 min LRGB 7hrs 10min
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- Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
- Date: January 2021 - January 2022
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
- Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
- Exposure: 211x5 min LRGB 17hrs 05min
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- Location: IC Astronomy Obs, Spain
- Date: March 2021
- Mount: OS EQ
- Telescope: Officina Stellare ProRC 700
- Camera: FLI PL16803 @ -25c SPA-2 CCD
- Exposure: LRGB 3hrs
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Messier 77
This galaxy is a barred spiral located in the constellation Cetus (the Sea Monster).
It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. He originally thought that it was a
nebula. Messier and William Herschel both thought that it was a star cluster. It is
also the brightest Seyfert galaxy that can be seen from Earth
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The Fornax Dwarf Galaxy
This is an elliptical dwarf galaxy located in the constellation Fornax. This galaxy is
part of our Local Group of galaxies. It contains 6 globular clusters which is
considered a lot by current standards. It is also moving away from us
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Messier 104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
Sitting as a member of the Virgo Group, a string of galaxies and globular clusters
near the Virgo Supercluster, the Sombrero Galaxy is about 31.1 million light-years
away from us and has a diameter of about 105,000 light-years, making it slightly
larger than our Milky Way. It is currently classified as a peculiar galaxy but no
other information about its classification is known since we can't see into the
interior to see if it has a bar (or two) or even if it is a spiral galaxy. It has a
very well-defined dust lane along its outer edge as well as some interior dust lanes
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Messier 100 - The Mirror Galaxy
This galaxy resides in the constellation Virgo (The Virgin). It is classified as a
Grand Design Intermediate Spiral Galaxy. It sits 55 million light-years away from us
and is the largest and brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Its diameter
is 166,000 light-years. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and then again by
Charles Messier just 29 days later
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: December 2021
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: FLI PL9000 @ -25c CHI-1 CCD
- Exposure: 32x10 min LRGB 5hrs 20min
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- Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
- Date: April 2025
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
- Camera: QHY600m @ -25c CMOS
- Exposure: 47x5 min LRGB 3hrs 55min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: April 2025
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 124x5 min LRGB 9hrs 50min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: May 2025
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 84x5 min LRGB 7hrs
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NGC 5128 - Centaurus A
This galaxy is found in the southern hemisphere and sits around 12 million
light-years away in the constellation Centaurus (The Centaur). It is the fifth
brightest galaxy in our nighttime sky as well as the closest radio galaxy to
Earth. It also has a very active galactic nucleus. There isn't complete
agreement as to whether this is a lenticular galaxy or a giant elliptical galaxy.
At its center is a supermassive black hole that weighs in at around 55 million
solar masses. There are two relativistic jets being ejected perpendicular to the
brown dust lanes that are heavy in X-ray and radio frequencies. It is thought
that a collision between this galaxy (elliptical) and a smaller spiral galaxy has
caused massive amounts of new star formation
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Messier 83 - The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
Charles Messier added this object to his catalog in March of 1781 after it was
discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. It
is in the constellation Hydra (the snake that was slain by Hercules) and is one
of the closest and brightest galaxies in our night sky. It is probably about
15 million light-years away. It is a massive barred spiral Grand Design galaxy
and an interaction with the dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 within the last billion years
began its active starburst period
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: May 2025
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 159x5 min LRGB 13hrs 15min
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- Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
- Date: April 2023
- Mount: Mathis MI-1000
- Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
- Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
- Exposure: 124x5 min LRGB 10hrs 20min
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