Messier 63 – NGC 5055 (Sunflower Galaxy)
I have been subscribing to data from the Deep Sky West (DSW) Observatory for some time. DSW is located in New Mexico and offers several fully equipped systems. One of the data sets I received, was data from the galaxy Messier 63, located in the constellation Canes Venatici.
The images were taken with the following equipment:
| Location | Rowe, New Mexico |
| Telescope | Astrophysics RH305 |
| Focal length [mm] | 1159 |
| Focal ratio | 3.8 |
| Mount | Paramount ME |
| Camera | SBIG STX-16803 |
| Filter | L:R:G:B |
| Exposure time [min] | 180:230:180:220 |
| Resolution | 1.66″/px |
Data calibration and registration and the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:
The faintest star in this image has an apparent magnitude of 22.5 magv (SDSS DR15).
The two highest redshift quasars [Flesh 2015] in the image are:
SDSS J131821.04+413254.2 z=3.48 magG=19.8 (Gaia DR2)
SDSS J131438.47+421404.5 z=3.55 magV=21.4 (SDSS DR12/14)
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