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M77, also known as NGC1068, is a face on spiral galaxy found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). It is at a distance of 60 million light years, spans 7 arc-min of sky, and shines at magnitude 8.8. It was discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain. The total mass of this galaxy is on the order of 1 trillion solar masses, with a central object which is responsible for Seyfert activity of about 10 million solar masses.
The image above was taken with the 12" LX200, AO7, and ST-8E camera at f/6.3 on Feb 3, 2002 at home in the Mistletoe Observartory. It is an LRGB image (as detailed below) with a total exposure time of about an hour and 15 min. Calibration and alignment were done in MaxIm DL. LRGB layering was done with Photoshop.
Filter |
Exposure | Count | Binning |
Luminance | 31 min, 20 sec | 20 x 100 sec | 1x1 |
Red | 15 min, 40 sec | 5 x 200 sec | 2x2 |
Green | 15 min, 40 sec | 5 x 200 sec | 2x2 |
Blue | 15 min, 40 sec | 5 x 200 sec | 2x2 |