EXTRA-GALACTIC ASTROPHOTOS

Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.
18016 Church Road ~ Marengo IL 60152
Phone:815 923 0031 ~ Fax:815 923 0032 ~ Email:arf@mc.net

The following photographs are of objects outside of the Milky Way Galaxy but close enough to be considered our neighbors. For more remote galaxies, cluster and quasars, see: Remote Extra-Galactic Photos]

M81 in Ursa Major

M81 is the largest of the "M81 Group" of about a dozen members. M81 is one of the densest galaxies known. It contains the mass of about 250 billion suns which somewhat exceeds the mass of our own Milky Way. However, at a diameter of about 36,000 light years, it is less than a third the size of the Milky Way.

For more info and images of M81/M82, CLICK HERE

M51 the Whirlpool Nebula in Canes Venatici

This unfamiliar constellation (the Hunting Dog) is just a few dim stars, beneath the Big Dipper.

M51 is a giant spiral galaxy not too different from our own Milky Way in both size and number of stars. It lies at a distance of about 15 million light years.

The companion galaxy (NGC 5195), although appearing to be connected to M51, is actually farther away as determined by its somewhat greater red shift and radial velocity. Although not obvious in some photos, this one seems to show the spiral arm and dust lane of M51 passing in front of NGC5195.

This image was a 20 min exposure on the MX7C CCD camera through the 16" telescope. It is the first image taken with the new camera and actually consists of two 20 min images stacked.

M101 in Ursa Major

This photo was taken through the 10" Newt at prime focus on Hypered TechPan.

The exposure was 60 minutes and guiding was with an ST-4. The film was developed in D19 developer for 4 min.

M31 in Andromeda

This photo was taken through the 10" Newt at prime focus. It is a mosaic of two photos, each centered on the edge of the galaxy and stitched together after scanning.

The exposures were each 60 minutes on hypered Techpan.

For MORE M31 see Special Feature M31

M33 in Triangulum

This photo was taken through the 16" Newt at prime focus.

The exposure was 60 minutes on hypered Techpan.

M104

The Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo

This image was a 30 min exposure with the MX5 CCD camera. It was taken through the 16" scope.

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All photos taken with the.....JSP ASTROCAMERA

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