M96 Spiral Galaxy
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 1:00 pm
I am trying to finish my tour of the significant galaxies in Leo while it is still relatively high in the night sky. So last night I imaged the spiral galaxy M96. I did this while also using my Nikon to try and capture a Lyrid Meteor.
I setup my 11 inch SCT and ZWO ASI2600 OSC at about 8:30PM. SVX130 and ZWO ASI290 used for autoguiding. The setup for the 11 inch is as follows:
0.8 focal reducer attached to scope. T-Adaptor attached to focal reducer. 5mm spacer attached to T-Adaptor. Manual rotator attached to spacer. Camera attached to rotator. This gives me the correct backspacing for this setup.
I used SGP to manage everything including autoguiding and meridian flip. I decided upon 2 minute images. After about 49 images (and well after a meridian flip), the autoguider stopped guiding due to out-of-focus camera. This was about 11PM. I did not notice this until about 12:45AM when I refocused and continued. I stopped imaging at 2:11 when M96 was below the wall of my observatory. I only was able to acquire 87 images (2 minutes). The 1 hr and 45 minute hiatus caused me to not acquire quite as many lights as I hoped for, but this is a fairly bright object so the result should be decent.
This leads me to thinking about Andy's remote observatory. I cannot imagine imaging completely remote --- seems like I am always fiddling with something.
M96 (NGC 3368) is a spiral galaxy in Leo. It is categorized as a double barred spiral. It is about the same size and mass as our Milky ay galaxy. M96 is a member of the M96 galaxy group which also includes M95 and M105 as well as a number of smaller galaxies.
Roger
I setup my 11 inch SCT and ZWO ASI2600 OSC at about 8:30PM. SVX130 and ZWO ASI290 used for autoguiding. The setup for the 11 inch is as follows:
0.8 focal reducer attached to scope. T-Adaptor attached to focal reducer. 5mm spacer attached to T-Adaptor. Manual rotator attached to spacer. Camera attached to rotator. This gives me the correct backspacing for this setup.
I used SGP to manage everything including autoguiding and meridian flip. I decided upon 2 minute images. After about 49 images (and well after a meridian flip), the autoguider stopped guiding due to out-of-focus camera. This was about 11PM. I did not notice this until about 12:45AM when I refocused and continued. I stopped imaging at 2:11 when M96 was below the wall of my observatory. I only was able to acquire 87 images (2 minutes). The 1 hr and 45 minute hiatus caused me to not acquire quite as many lights as I hoped for, but this is a fairly bright object so the result should be decent.
This leads me to thinking about Andy's remote observatory. I cannot imagine imaging completely remote --- seems like I am always fiddling with something.
M96 (NGC 3368) is a spiral galaxy in Leo. It is categorized as a double barred spiral. It is about the same size and mass as our Milky ay galaxy. M96 is a member of the M96 galaxy group which also includes M95 and M105 as well as a number of smaller galaxies.
Roger
- M96 Spiral Galaxy.jpg (11.31 MiB) Viewed 352 times