Image of the Month
M-99 (NGC-4254)
M-99 (NGC-4254) Spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices
M-99 (NGC-4254) is a face-on Type Sc spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It is a member of the Virgo galaxy cluster and lies 55 million light years from Earth. It is sometimes called the "Coma Pinwheel" galaxy. It is rotating counter-clockwise and has asymetrical spiral arms. It is 85,000 light years in diameter. It was discovered on Marcy 18, 1781 by Pierre Mechain, on the same night that he discovered M-98 and M-100.
This image is one of my earliest CCD images of a galaxy. It was acquired on April 15, 2007, and is a 21 minute integration of 20 second UNGUIDED exposures through my Orion 80ED 80mm guidescope, using the old Orion STARSHOOT 782X582 color CCD camera. Captured and combined using Nebulosity. Post processed using PhotoShop, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.