Monday, November 2, 2015

A Phantom for Halloween!

Well--not really. This image of M74--a face-on spiral galaxy--was taken on November 1. The galaxy is called The Phantom because of its low surface brightness; it is one of the most difficult Messier objects to see.

This image is a single, 60-second integration taken with my 14 inch ACF, Mallicam MFR-5 II focal reducer, Baader UHC/Nebula filter and the Mallincam Xtreme. The spiral structure of the galaxy is clearly visible, despite the sky glow.


As a bonus, on the way in, I saw a very bright (+2 or so) Taurid meteor.

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