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M65 and M66 in Leo

 

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (4070x2771)

Scope: Celestron 9.25 Edge HD 235 mm at f/7, Location: DAA Observatory, Shelter Valley, CA, 18 March and 9 April 2021  Camera: ASI294MM (Baader  LRGB Filters)

Exposure: Exposure: L - 67 x 4 minutes (gain-140 2x2) ,  RGB - 16 x 3 minutes (gain-121 2x2) each RGB exposures.

Processing: Data Collection -  Sequence Generator Pro (as FITs).  Sub-frame calibration - Pixinsight. Sub-frame  registration and integration (Average combine -  Winsorized Sigma Clipping) - PixInsight.  Mure Denoise - PixInsight. Non-linear stretching, normalization and gradient removal - PixInsight.   Curves, Levels, Deconvolution, RGB combine, Luminance layering - PixInsight.  Final finishing  - Affinity Photo.  Photometric RGB calibration - PixInsight. Annotation - PixInsight, Aladin (Simbad and NED), and Affinity Photo. This image is a  LRGB with luminance layering.  Image processed at 4144x2822 resolution. Final Image size is approximately  4144x2822.

North is up in this image.  The pair of galaxies (M65 - right and M66 - left) dominate this image field. These galaxies are two of three in the "Leo Triplet"  - the third member being NGC 3628.   M65 and M66 have other object id's - most notably Arp 16 (M66) and as a triplet - Arp 317. Also in this field are three Quasars of medium to high redshift (see annotated image). The background galaxies in this image are also fairly distant. M66 and M65 are much closer (48 and 53 million light year respectively). These objects, information, and some of the brighter stars are identified in the annotated image. Horizontal FOV is approximately 39 arc minutes. Full size image scale is approximately 0.58 arcsec/pix.. This image replaces  an earlier image in the Archives here.

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 11h 28m 25s Dec: +13°02'01"

 

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2021

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