NGC 4051

[tomato]

Here is 7.2 hours on NGC 4051, an intermediate spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1788. It is around 45 million light years distant and (it says here) has a super massive black hole at it's centre of 1.73 million solar masses.

The image is rather spoilt by a large hair on the Lum camera sensor which created a big shadow to the top right of the galaxy, which I think caused the diffraction spikes on the star in this region, based on the observation that the spikes disappeared if I moved the star out of this region. The hair has now  been removed, after spoiling another image. I was too lazy in assuming the flats would take care of it, lesson learned, I will be more vigilant on sensor cleanliness in future.

Details

Dual Esprit 150/ASI 178 cameras binned 2x2.

 

L 73 x 3 mins

R 24 x 3 mins

G 25 x 3 mins

B 22 x 3 mins

Calibrated and stacked in APP, processed in APP, AP and Gimp.

Thanks for looking

 

[MartinB]

Ha ha that's a new gremlin!  You could have enhanced the artefact and claimed a new discovery of a jet coming out of the black hole.  Never mind, it is a great image of a rather lovely looking galaxy.  I love the subtle colouring with the light blue arms and pale yellow core.  Great work

[tomato]

Thanks Martin,

The hair was substantial enough to have some colour, namely white. How did it appear after several weeks in a sealed system, I guess it wafted down from the Lum filter. I have one of those little camera lens bellows which I use when assembling, I may need to invest in something more substantial.