Leo Triplet

18:26 19/3/2009 UTC

Leo Triplet is a photogenic group of galaxies in the constellation Leo. This group is also known as The M66 Group. These three magnificent spiral galaxies are interacting with each other which causes a long tidal stream of star formation from NGC3628. This over 200 light year long stream of stars is faintly visible in my image upwards from the galaxy.

This image is taken under very dark skies in Ursa Artjärvi Observatory. I don't have LRGB filter set yet, so I decided to recycle one of my old DSLR image to add a little color tone to the image. I intentionally left the background a bit bright and didn't do much noise reduction to keep the tidal tail visible.

NGC/IC Object List:
NGC3623 galaxy RA:11h18m55.6 Dec:+13°05m'27" BMag:10.1, M 65
NGC3627 galaxy RA:11h20m15.1 Dec:+12°59m'24" BMag: 9.7, M 66
NGC3628 galaxy RA:11h20m16.7 Dec:+13°35m'24" BMag:10.4, UGC 6350

[High Resolution : 2035x1681 @ 3.18 arcsec/pixel]

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE, Modified Canon EOS 350D | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader IR/UV block | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: L: 24x600s(4h) CCD @ -20°C + RGB: 17x240s (1h8m) ISO800 f6 (EOS DSLR) | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Artemis Capture | Location: 60°44'00"N 26°12'46"E (Tähtikallio Observatory/Artjärvi, FI) | Image Field: 3.835 x 3.253 degrees | Image Center: Ra 02h22m52s Dec -13°35'38" | Target altitude in the beginning of the exposure 30°