SBIG ST-4000XCM
20x15 Minutes
Imager Temp -20C
Celestron 9.25 Reduced 0.63
40% Crop
Link fo Larger JPEG

This image marks my first use of dither with CCDSoft. It made the background more quiet and eliminated all the hot pixels.

NGC 4535 is a beautiful, face-on SBc barred spiral with sharply defined "buzz saw" arms. It is located at a distance of about 52 million light years. It is considered to be a member of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster and many, many distant faint galaxies can be seen in this frame. The delicate outer arms are represented here as a haze or lightening of the background surrounding the bright central arms.

April 9, 2010