Messier 63 - Sunflower galaxy

This should be one of the last images for a while. Getting so tired after all those clear nights :-).
This is M 63 - also known as the Sunflower galaxy. It lies in the constellation Canis Venatici at a distance of 37 million lightyears. Imagine, the light captured here was emmited 37.000.000 years ago. It belongs to the M 51 group -see an earlier post. This image consists of 37 frames with an exposure time 0f 5 minutes each. 8" Skywatcher Newton on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. Camera used; Canon 400D (Baader mod.)

NGC 4565 - The Needle galaxy

Last night was beautifull again. Clear skies almost all night! This is an object I wanted to image for a long time; NGC 4565. It is also called the Needle galaxy because of its slim shape, seen side on. It lies at a distance of 43 million lightyears in the constellation Coma Berenices. This image consists of 25 frames; exposure time 5 minutes each at ISO1600. 8" Skywatcher Newton telescope on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. Camera; Canon EOS400D (Baader mod.)

Messier 51 - colliding Galaxies

I seems like every spring somehowe I have to photograph M 51. Probably because it's one of the most beautifull objects in the northern sky. These are two colliding galaxies. This object lies at a distance of 23 million lightyears. Also note several tiny galaxies laying at even greater distances. This image is a stack of 30 frames with an exposure time of 4 minutes each. Canon 400D (Baader mod.) at ISO1600). 8" Skywatcher Newton on an EQ6 Syntrek.

The conditions weren't super yesterday. Although the sky was clear enough, moonlight was preventing long exposure times. This is Messier 3. It's a globular cluster and contains 500.000 stars. It lies at a distance of 34.000 lightyears. Thats 9.460.800.000.000 kilometers.
8" Skywatcher Newton - EQ6 Syntrek - Canon 400D

NGC 2237; Rozette nebula

After a couple of days feeling sick, I had to take advantage of some extreme clear skies. This is the Rozette nebula, an object I never tried before. I used 15 frames with an exposure time of 240 seconds each. The Canon 400D was set to ISO 1600. The image was stacked with DeepSkyStacker and the final touch-up was done with Photoshop. I guess it came out pretty well :-).