This image was created by median combining 7 x 90 second unfiltered images taken with a Takahashi Epsilon 250 with SBIG ST-8XE CCD. The image has been cut down to be 20 x 20 arc minutes in size.
Messier 61 (NGC 4303) is a spiral galaxy with a diameter of 100,000 light years that is situated in the Virgo Cluster. This galaxy shows a wealth of features, ranging from the bar with dust lanes emerging from the central bulge to numerous bright associations of young stars farther out in the arms.
In collaboration with the Remote Astronomical Society Observatory
Martin Nicholson - Daventry, United Kingdom.
This page was last updated on January 14th 2008.