M64 - The Black Eye Galaxy
Sat Mar 14 2026
I’m officially switching into galaxy mode now that we are looking out of the Milky Way’s plane at night so our skies are filled with galaxies. This is my first of hopefully many of the season. M64, also called the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy or the Evil Eye Galaxy is located about 17 million light years away from us in the constellation of Coma Berenices and is around 55000 light years in diameter.
About this object
- Type
- Galaxy
- Constellation
- Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair)
- Distance
- ~17 million light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 8.5
- Apparent size
- 10.5′ × 5.3′
- Also known as
- Black Eye Galaxy, Evil Eye Galaxy
- Catalogue designations
- M 64, NGC 4826
The Black Eye Galaxy (M64) is named for the dramatic dark band of dust sweeping across its bright nucleus. That dust is a sign of a past merger: the outer gas of the galaxy rotates in the opposite direction to its inner regions.
Acquisition
- Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm: 65 × 1m (1h 5m)
- Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm: 120 × 1m (2h 0m)
- Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm: 65 × 1m (1h 5m)
- Total integration: 4h 10m
Equipment
- Telescope / Lens: Celestron C8
- Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Mount: Celestron CGEM II
- Filters: Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm, Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm, Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm
- Guiding scope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
- Guiding camera: ZWO ASI174MM Mini
- Accessories: Celestron 0.63X SCT Reducer (94175), ZWO EFW 7 x 36mm
- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.