Siamese Twins or Butterfly Galaxy

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 are part of the Butterfly Galaxy or also known as the Siamese Twins. Both galaxies are located in constellation Virgo and about 60 million light years away from Earth. Together with NGC 4564 (55 million light years from Earth) they are all part of the Virgo Cluster.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s exposure time. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Picture uploaded in Astrometry - see results.

Galaxy NGC 4526 or NGC 4560

Galaxy NGC 4526 (also listed as NGC 4560 - see astrometry) is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster and about 55 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 16 minutes exposure time (16x60s). Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4.

Galaxies NGC 4550 & 4551 - Clockwise / Counterclockwise movement

Galaxy NGC 4550 is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster, about 50 million light years away from Earth. An interesting fact is that NGC 4550 has stars which move counterclockwise and another part of the stars move clockwise.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s. Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4. 

Galaxy NGC 4535

Galaxy NGC 4535 is located in constellation Virgo and part of the Virgo Cluster and about 54 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 15x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61

A Supernova SN2020 jfo is found in Galaxy M61. This galaxy M61 is located in constellation Virgo and about 52 million light years away from Earth. Galaxy M61 part of the Virgo Cluster and is one of the largest members of the Cluster. 

The supernova SN2020 jfo is a type 2 nova. Type II supernovae like 2020jfo involve the sudden and violent collapse of a supergiant star when its nuclear fuel gas tank hits empty. With no heat and pressure in the core to battle back the crushing hand of gravity, the star implodes. The infall rebounds at the core, creating a shock wave of such ferocity that it rips through the star and blows it to bits in a titanic explosion 100 million times brighter than the Sun. No wonder we can see these things in our backyard telescopes (source Sky & Telescope)!


Picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 31x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing in CS4.

Sun in H-alpha

This morning the Sun in H-alpha and with some bright prominences. Picture taken afocal (10mm) with Nikon D7500 and SolarMax3 d70/400 f/5.7 DS BF15. Setting ISO100 and 1,3s exposure time. Editing using CS4.

Venus 12% Illuminated

This evening Venus is still very bright and shining after sunset. I made some pictures using my TAL200K f/8.5 telescoop with ZWO224MC camera and ADC (Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector). Pictures are stacked using Autostakkert! and final editing with CS4.