Object Information:

 

Messier 33, NGC 598
Distance -  3 million light years

 

Messier 33 is a spiral galaxy and a member of the "Local Group" of nearby galaxies.

For more information on this object see: http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m033.html

  Imaged at: 

 

Blair Valley, San Diego County, CA

  Equipment:  

 

Optics - Takahashi Epsilon 160 at f/3.3
Mount - Astro-Physics 1200 GTO,
Camera - Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG) ST-2000XM CCD,

  Exposure Information:

 

August 20, 2004

 

LRGB image consisting of a luminance frame and RGB images of a combined total exposure time of R = 70 min, G = 40 min and B = 50 minutes.  Eighteen separate luminance images were used for the luminance frame.  Three sets of six, 5 minute summed exposures were median combined to create the luminance frame.

  Camera Control Software:

 

MaxIm DL 4

  Image Processing Software:

 

Image calibration and registration with Mira 6; RGB combination in MaxIm DL; final processing in Photoshop 8