M77

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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