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| Date 2022/03/01 et 2022/03/05 Observation place New Mexico |
Technical
| Telescope | Planewave 431mm – 17″, 1940mm FL, f/4,5 with focal reducer |
| Mount | Planewave Ascension 200HR (FLI) |
| Imaging camera | Microline PL6303E (FLI) - regulated at -35o Celsius |
| Image type | L (RGB) (Vs for synghetic green) |
| Exhibition | Luminance (10 x 10' bin 1×1), R (4 x 2' bin 2×2) and B (4 x 2' bin 2×2) |
| Pretreatment | Maxim DL |
| Treatment | Photoshop and PixInsight |
| Specific treatment | Create a synthetic green image |
Object description
| Object type | Spiral Galaxy "The Black Eye Galaxy" |
| Constellation | Berenice's hair |
| Visual magnitude | 8,5 |
| Surface gloss | 12,83 |
| Distance | 18,6 million light years |
| Diameter | 51000 light years |
| Dimension seen from Earth | 10,5' x 5,3' arc |
| M64, also known as the Black Eye Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Berenike's Hair. It is about 18,6 million light-years from Earth. Its diameter is 51000 light-years. The very particular appearance of M64 is due to the presence of an immense opaque interstellar cloud, which hides the stars situated in the background. Recent observations have shown that gas and stars in the outer regions of the galaxy rotate in the opposite direction to those in the central region! M64, which can be seen with good binoculars in a low light pollution environment, is an attractive object even through a modest amateur instrument. Visually, it has an irregular shape of widely varying gloss and texture, overall forming a shiny oval with a large, bright heart. The characteristic feature of the Black Eye galaxy can be seen with instruments from 10 cm (4 inches) in aperture and completely resolved from 15 cm (6 inches). In my image, you can very well see the characteristic shape of the galaxy which resembles an eye in its center. It's a very beautiful galaxy to photograph, showing the dimness of the spiral arms in a slightly bluish color in images taken with the standard RGB (red, green and blue) filters. It should be noted that the Black Eye of the galaxy appears on the photo in slightly orange tones since it is a long exposure image. When observing M64 visually, we do not see the colors of the galaxy, because its luminosity is too low for the human eye to distinguish colors! Its nickname therefore comes from visual observations with a telescope or telescope. |
| Richard Beauregard Sky Astro - CCD My impression "We cannot be alone in this gigantic universe" |