The Leo Trio Galaxy Group

CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION - (2700x1800)

Scope: Zenithstar 66 mm APO at f/4.8; Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA;  14 March, 2010; Camera: Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)

Exposure: 18 x 5 min  (unfiltered)   ISO 800 , 8 Darks, no Flats 

Processing: Images were captured with DSLR Focus  and saved as RAW file format. Exposures were decoded and dark corrected in IRIS. Exposures were aligned and stacked in IRIS with Sigma Median.  Dark point equalization and rough color balance  were done in IRIS.  Gamma and saturation adjustments were also done in IRIS.  Stretch and crop adjustments were done in Photoshop.   Background noise reduction was performed by PixInsight LE  (SGBNR).  Final stretching and touch up was done in PhotoShop.     Final Image size is approximately 3474x2314 - re-sampled to 2700x1800.

North is up in this image.  This image is guided.  This galaxy group is known as the M66 Galaxy Group or otherwise known as the Leo Trio Galaxy Group. The three conspicuous galaxies are roughly centered in this image. M66 is the lower left in the triplet; M65 is the lower right: NGC 3628 is the upper galaxy. The small galaxy to the right of the Trio and just right of the two bright stars is NGC 3593. The Leo Trio Galaxy Group  is approximately 35 million light years distant from Earth.   The Horizontal FOV is about 270 min.

Image Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 11h 19m 06s Dec: +13°23'26"

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All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

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