M95

Spiral Galaxy in the Constellation Leo

M95 is a barred spiral galaxy.  It lies at a distance of 38 million light-years from Earth.  M95 is a member of the Leo I or M96 group, which also contains M96, M105 and a number of fainter galaxies.

Image Details:

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  • Instrument:  Celestron C14 SCT @ f/6.0 (2136mm) focal length
  • Mount:  Astro-Physics AP-1200GTO
  • Image Scale:  0.94 arc-seconds per pixel after processing
  • Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM with CFW8 Color Filter Wheel and AO-8 Adaptive Optics
  • Filters & Exposure Times:  
    • L:   12 x 5 minutes binned 1 x 1
    • R:  12 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2
      G:    6 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2
      B:    6 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2 
  • LRGB stacking and processing was used for a total equivalent unbinned exposure time of 5 hours
  • Software: Maxim DL/CCD, Adobe Photoshop CS2, RC Astro Gradient X-Terminator, Neat Image Pro
  • Location: C.A.A.S. East Observatory, Little Rock, AR., El. 650 ft.
  • Date: June 13th, 2009