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M77 is the closest and brightest Seyfert galaxy, and is also a barred spiral. Seyferts are spiral galaxies with unusually bright, compact nuclei that fluctuate in brightness. Some are also strong emitters of infra-red, radio, and gamma radiation. All have strong emission lines in the spectra of their nuclei, suggesting a small but intense source of energy (a black hole maybe). This is my first attempt at this galaxy. It is magnitude 8.9 with a surface brightness of 12.8. I think this represents about my limit in the light-polluted skies where I live. If the image is too dark on your monitor, move your mouse over it to see a brighter one. |
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| Date and Time | 16th December 2006 21:30 UT | Camera | Atik ATK1 HS | Telescope | LX200 with 0.33 focal reducer (focal length 800 mm) | Capture | K3CCDTools. High gamma, exposures 4, 8, 15, 25 sec, 60% gain | Processing | K3CCDTools. Individual exposures aligned and stacked then the 4 resulting frames stacked together. Gamma 1.6, Histogram 32-197, Unsharp mask factor 200, radius 5 |
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