Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod43x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP flattenerYahoo Digital Astro Group March, 2008 Monthly Challenge Runner UpSky and Telescope Online Gallery April 7, 2008Astroimaging Challenge Yahoo Group Winner March, 2008
First light with my new AP Mach1GTO mountThis popular group is famous as the Leo Triplet - a gathering of three magnificent galaxies in one field of view. Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, these galaxies can be introduced individually as NGC 3628 (left), M65 (top right), and M66 (bottom right). All three are large spiral galaxies. They tend to look dissimilar because their galactic disks are tilted at different angles to our line of sight. NGC 3628 is seen edge-on, with obscuring dust lanes cutting across the plane of the galaxy, while the disks of M66 and M65 are both inclined enough to show off their spiral structure. Gravitational interactions between galaxies in the group have also left telltale signs, including the warped and inflated disk of NGC 3628 and the drawn out spiral arms of M66. The trio's estimated distance of 30 million light-years. (APOD)March 28, 2008
