M109 - The Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy
Sun May 07 2023
Messier 109 is a barred spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, sometimes saddled with the goofy nickname the Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy. It is a distant island of billions of stars, its arms sweeping out from a bright central bar much like the structure of our own Milky Way.
About this object
- Type
- Galaxy
- Constellation
- Ursa Major (the Great Bear)
- Apparent magnitude
- 9.9
- Apparent size
- 8.1′ × 5.6′
- Catalogue designations
- M 109, NGC 3992
Acquisition
- Antlia V-Pro Luminance 31 mm: 643 × 30s (5h 21m 30s)
- Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm: 78 × 1m (1h 18m)
- Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm: 87 × 1m (1h 27m)
- Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm: 87 × 1m (1h 27m)
- Total integration: 9h 33m 30s
Equipment
- Telescope / Lens: Celestron C8
- Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
- Mount: Celestron CGEM II
- Filters: Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Luminance 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm
- Guiding scope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
- Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224MC
- Accessories: Celestron 0.63X SCT Reducer (94175), ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25″ / 31mm
- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.