Messier 74 - Phantom Galaxy
M74, also known as NGC 628 or the Phantom Galaxy, is a “Grand Design” spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth and contains an estimated 100 billion stars. The James Webb telescope snapped a mesmerizing infrared view of this galaxy shortly after it began sending back data.
October 15, 2024
Finally able to close the books on this one for the year. Several nights of imagining with a bunch of tossed frames in the first few nights due to differential flexure of the guide scope. I’ve thankfully sorted that out, but lately it’s been somewhat cloudy, windy, and even if it is clear, there’s a nearly full moon! All not ideal. Nonetheless, I was able to gather some usable data for an image on this one. Processing this data was more challenging than expected, perhaps due to its low surface brightness. May revisit it another year, but this is it on M74 for 2024 for me!
Technical Details
Imaging Telescope: Orion Optics IDEAL 8
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Filter: Antlia Tri-band RGB Ultra Filter - 2” Mounted
Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF
Software: PixInsight, NoiseXterminator, Starnet, BlurXterminator, GraXpert
Guiding Telescope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI174MM
Imaging Dates: Oct. 6-7, 11, & 14, 2024
Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 160x180” (8h)
Integration Time: 8h
Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/30/30
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 5.00