From March to May, astrophotographers in northern latitudes set up their largest telescopes each night in search of the furthest and faintest deep-space wonders known to man: galaxies.. Captured in spring, this photo is of the Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565), an edge-on galaxy located approximately 40 million light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The central nucleus is somewhat bloated as a result of gravitational interactions with another galaxy. Although the Needle appears skinny and small, don’t let that deceive you: in reality, it is a massive barred-spiral galaxy which is larger and more luminous than our own Milky Way.
Acquisition Date: June 24, 2020–June 26, 2020
Acquisition Site: Backyard
Image Details: 55 x 180s (2h 45m)
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro, Takahashi TOA-130NFB, AP1200GTO