Four Galaxies Observed on Feb 23, 2011

Dick Steinberg

Conditions were clear with fair-to-good seeing. Moon rise was at 1AM.

All images are stacks of  5-minute externally guided subexposures with the Hyperion reflector at the Blue Mountain Vista Observatory .

M110 (6x5min)  Dwarf elliptical galaxy, a satellite of M31, a tiny portion of which is visible in the SE corner of the frame. Distance 0.8 MPc

NGC2403 (12x5min) Spiral in Camelopardalis, thought to be an outlying member of the M81 group. Distance 4 MPc.

M106 (12x5min) Glorious spiral in Canes Venatici. Distance 7MPc.

M87 (12x5min obtained after moon-rise) Supergiant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster.  Distance 16MPc.

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Hyperion 317mm f/8 corrected Cassegrain - Paramount ME - Apogee U16M binned 2x2 - 2048x2048 pixels - 1.46 arcsec/pixel - FOV 50 arcmin square - acquisition and processing: MaxIm DL 5.14 - automation: CCD Commander 1.6.33 - piggy-back guider Orion 80mm f/11.4 + SBIG ST8 camera