by Craig and Tammy Temple
M64 is a magnitude 9.0 spiral galaxy in Coma Berenecies. It is named for the prominent dark dust lane near its bright core. This lane is an area of active star formation. The Blackeye was discovered in 1779 by Edward Pigott, and subsequently by Charles Messier, adding it as entry 64 into his famous catalog in 1780. This 3.5 hour image was taken over three non-consecutive nights, May 7, 11, and 17, 2009. The temperatures were 74° F, 63° F & 58° F, respectively.
- Celestron C8 SCT with Celestron f/6.3 FR/FF
- Atlas EQ-G w/EQASCOM, Guided
- Canon 350D (self-modified) w/Astronomik EOS Clip IR filter + 2" Hutech IDAS LPS filter
- Best 42/45 120s, best 28/32 180s & best 12/18 210s @ ISO 1600
- Captured/Calibrated/Registered/Stacked/Initial processing in ImagesPlus 3.75
- Post processed in Photoshop CS4/Gradient XTerminator/Noise Ninja/Carboni's Tools.