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 NGC4631 - The Whale Galaxy 


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About:
NGC 4631 is a big beautiful spiral galaxy. Seen edge-on, it lies only 25 million light-years away in the well-trained northern constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape suggests to some a cosmic herring and to others its popular moniker, The Whale Galaxy. Either way, it is similar in size to our own Milky Way. In this sharp color image, the galaxy's yellowish core, dark dust clouds, bright blue star clusters, and red star forming regions are easy to spot. A companion galaxy, the small elliptical NGC 4627 is just above the Whale Galaxy. Faint star streams seen in deep images are the remnants of small companion galaxies disrupted by repeated encounters with the Whale in the distant past. The Whale Galaxy is also known to have spouted a halo of hot gas glowing in X-rays. [Text from APOD]



Optics: GSO RC 10" F8 2000mm - Astrograph Ritchie-Chrétien
Mount: AP Mach1 GTO
Camera: QSI-640WSG
Filters: Astrodon LRGB 1.25" I Series Gen II - Astrodon Ha 5nm 1.25"
Guiding Systems: SXV-AO-LF Active Optics - SX Lodestar
Dates/Times: February 2017 / January-April 2018
Location: Pragelato - Turin - (Italy)
Exposure Details: L:H:R:G:B => 570:330:140:140:120 = > (57x10):(11x30):(14x10):(14x10):(12x10) color Bin2 [num x minutes]
Cooling Details: -25°C
Acquisition: Maxim DL/CCD, Voyager
Processing: CCDStack2+, PS CC 2018
Mean FWHM: 1.44" / 2.52"
SQM-L: 20.21 / 20.48