M74 the Phantom Galaxy - Spiral Galaxy in Pisces

            Given the lack of clear skies for weeks now I have been practicing using PixInsight to process images I captured in the past. This is one I took of M74 in August 2022 with my Celestron C11A telescope. The browner version is how it came out the first time I processed it. The reprocessed version is whiter and reveals more of the fainter stars and the glow from stars in the spiral arms.

Messier 74 (M74), nicknamed the Phantom Galaxy, is a grand design spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. The galaxy appears face-on and is about 30 million light years from Earth. Its designation in the New General Catalogue is NGC 628.

The galaxy is about 95,000 light years across, almost the size of the Milky Way, and is home to about 100 billion stars.
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Telescope: Celestron C11-A XLT Schmidt Cassegrain OTA
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro
 
Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Pro
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5C
Filter: ZWO UV/IR Cut filter
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini 
Guide via: ZWO OAG
 
Stacked from:
Lights 16 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -5C
Darks 30 at 120 seconds, gain 101, temp -5C
Flat 30 at 90ms, gain 101, temp -5C
Dark Flat 30 at 90ms, gain 101 temp -5C
 
Bortle 4 sky.
Integrated the saved frames in Astro Pixel Processor.
Processed in PixInsight
Adjusted in Photoshop CS4
 
   

Taken on: August 7, 2022

Tags:

Zwo

ASIAIR

oag

EFW

eaf

uv/ir

cut

ASI533MC

ASI174MM

Celestron

c11

c11a-xlt

skywatcher

eq6r-pro

messier

m74

Pisces

spiral

galaxy

phantom

ngc628 « less

Sets appears in: • Astronomy • Messier Objects more » • Galaxies « less

Groups appears in: • Astrophotography - Astronomy - Astrophysics • astrometry more » • BBC Sky at Night and Stargazing Live « less

Camera: notAvailable, 2040 sec (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	notAvailable
Exposure Time:	2040
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