by Bob Franke
Taken on 3/13/2010 to 3/24/2010 in Chino Valley, AZ
RCOS 12.5" Ritchey-Chrétien w/ an SBIG STL-11000 camera using Astrodon filters
Exposure Details:
Lum 375 min (25 x 15 min)
RGB 225 min ( 5 x 15 min each)
North is to the top.
Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) discovered NGC 4565. Also known as the Needle Galaxy, NGC 4565 is about 30 million light-years away, in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy's nearly edge on alignment presents a spectacular view of the dust lanes intersecting with the core. The bright central core get its color from the dominance of older yellowish stars.
The galaxy to the lower right is NGC 4562. It's about 40 million light-years away, and like NGC 4565, spans about 100,000 light-years.