M106 Galaxy

Object: M106
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: 22 Million Light-Years
Magnitude: 8.3
Comments: M106 exhibits prominent lanes of dust stretching all the way to the core. it has active bright star-forming regions highlighted by knots of hot young blue star fields. It looks as though it has undergone a gravitational disturbance from an encounter with another passing galaxy in the not too distant past, having its faint outer arms stretched out in enlongated arcs. For a more detailed description of M106, see Rob Gendler's essay HERE

Date: February 2006
Place: Asheville, NC
Exposure Details: LRGB: 300:60:60:60 at -30c, Lumincance unbinned; RGB binned 2
Processing: Processed using CCDSoft, Registar, Maxlm, and Photoshop CS

Optics: 12.5" RCOS Truss RC
Focal Length: 2908mm @ f9
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: STL6303E
Focuser: RCOS
Guiding: On-chip
Filters: Tru-Balance LRGB 2"