Observations of M87
These are the observations available for M87. If you have any of your own that you'd like to submit we'd love to put them on the website.
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A closeup of Messier 87 (Virgo A or NGC 4486)
A few months ago I bought a ZWO ASI 294MC Pro camera for use with electronically assisted astronomy. More recently, I've been exploring its use for more general astrophotography and whilst I still have some issues to resolve, it does produce some pleasing images. Using this one-shot camera has also led to a rethink of my image processing workflow and I now use Pixinsight for calibration and image stacking, splitting the one-shot colour subs into their RGB components for realignment and integration later.
M87, in the constellation Virgo, is a supergiant elliptical galaxy with several trillion stars. It is of the most massive galaxies in the local universe, and it has a large population of globular clusters. It also has a jet of energetic plasma that originates at the black hole in the core of the galaxy and extends at least 4,900 light-years into space.
The French astronomer Charles Messier discovered M87 in 1781. It is about 53 million light-years from Earth and has many satellite galaxies.
The following images record my exploration of M87, a galaxy that I had not yet visited. I started with a general view of M87 and its environs,
An image of the region surrounding elliptical galaxy M87 by David Davies and taken from Cambridge in the UK. To see more of David's work please visit his Flickr Photostream. Then a close-up view of M87 showing many of the surrounding background galaxies and a close-up view with a less aggressive stretch.
A close-up of the elliptical galaxy M87 by David Davies and taken from Cambridge in the UK. To see more of David's work please visit his Flickr Photostream. Finally a third image presents a clear view (at two o'clock) of the jet from the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.
An image of the jet from the core of elliptical galaxy M87 by David Davies and taken from Cambridge in the UK. To see more of David's work please visit his Flickr Photostream. Image Details
The image comprises 60 subs of two-minutes exposure each.
- Telescope: 8-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope with an x0.7 reducer
- Camera: ASI ZWO 294 MC Pro
- Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
- Software: NINA, GSS, PHD2, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise
David Davies - (3 March 2022).
