M77 in Cetus

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Scope: C8  f/8.0, Location: Dos Picos Park, Ramona, 23 and 30 December 2007  Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 6 x 4 minutes, 12 x 5 minutes  Luminance exposures with IR block (1x1 bin), 6 x 3 minutes RGB exposures (2x2 bin).

Processing: Images were captured Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart with Sigma Combine. Luminance and Color channels were scaled and rough color balanced in Astroart.  Central gradient removal performed in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart. The 4 and 5 minute IR block exposures were combined for the main luminance construction with level adjustments and curves to bring out object features. LRGB combine was done in Photoshop in LAB color space. G2V and Atmospheric Extinction factors applied to color the balance. Selective sharpening (with mask) was used to enhance galaxy features. A light noise reduction was applied with PixInsight LE SGBNR.  Final touches were done in Photoshop.  Final Image size is approximately 1392x1040.

North is up in this image.  M77 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Cetus. M77 is a highly energetic galaxy with an inner disk and a significantly extended dim outer structure. Its distance is estimated at 60 million light years from earth. This image replaces an earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here.  Horizontal FOV is 20'

Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 02h 42m 40.2s Dec: -00°00'48" 

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

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