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Scope: C8 f/8, Location: Dos Picos Park, Ramona, CA 19 May 2006 Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 12 x 240 sec Luminance exposures with IR block, 6 x 120 sec (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.
Processing: Images were captured in Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked in Registax 3 and saved as FITS. Luminance and Color channels were numerically scaled and color balanced in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart. Central gradient was removed in Astroart. Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to optimize object features. Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop using Luminance Layering (or LLRGB). Selective sharpening with layer mask was applied to galaxy arms. The image had a noticeable color gradient left to right on the object itself. The gradient was corrected. Color balancing and final touches were done in Photoshop. SGBNR was used to smooth background noise on the luminance construction and the final result. Final Image size is approximately 1392x1040.
North is up in this image. The image was guided for all exposures. M109 is a barred spiral galaxy in that it has a distinct "bar" extending out on each side of the core. It is about 55 million light years distant from Earth. Horizontal FOV is 20'
Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 11h 57m 35s Dec: +53°22'25"