by Craig and Tammy Temple
This galaxy, NGC5866, is a bit of a mystery. There is no galaxy at the
coordinates that Charles Messier logged as M102 in 1781. It is likely
that he duplicated his observation of M101. The galaxy in this image is
the closest to Messier's coordinates and one of the likely candidates to
be called M102. NGC5866 is either a lenticular or a spiral galaxy in
the constellation Draco. Because of it's edge-on appearance, it is
difficult to definitively tell if it is lenticular. The prominent dust
disk would suggest it is not, as such a lane would be very unusual in a
lenticular galaxy. It has an apparent magnitude of 10.70 and is
approximately 50 million light-years distant.
Telescope:
Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain at
f/6.3
Mount:
Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Camera:
Canon Digital Rebel T1i, Hap Griffin Baader modified
Exposure: 39 x 480sec @
ISO 800 (5hr. 12min.)
Date(s): May 3, 5 & 6, 2010