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Scope: Megrez II f/5.3, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, 5 April, 2008 Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 10 x 6 minutes Luminance exposures with IR block (1x1 bin), 8 x 2.5 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 6 minute IR block exposures were used for the main luminance construction with level adjustments and curves to bring out object features. LRGB combine was done in Photoshop. G2V factors applied to color channels. 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 1040x1392
North is up in this image. This is an image of the well known "Leo Triplet" group of galaxies located in the constellation of Leo. The Individual members consist of NGC 3628 (top), M65 (right), and M66 (bottom). All three object are estimated to be a bout 35 million light year distant from Earth. Horizontal FOV is 54'
Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 11h 19m 53s Dec: +13°14'31"