NGC 7814

Edge-On Spiral Galaxy in the Constellation Pegasus

This beautiful spiral galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth and displays a prominent dust lane through the central core of the galaxy.  NGC 7814 lies about 40 million light-years from Earth and is approximately 70,000 light-years in diameter, or about two-thirds the diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy.  There are a large number of very faint background galaxies visible in this field of view.  The most notable one seen here is the galaxy PGC 259 in the lower left corner of the image.  It lies at a distance from Earth of 287 million light-years and has a diameter of approximately 55,000 light-years.

Image Details:

• Instrument:  Planewave Instruments CDK 12.5 @ f/8  (2544mm)
  Mount:  Astro-Physics AP-1200GTO
  Image Scale:  0.90 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:  14 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2
    G:    6 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2
    B:    9 x 5 minutes binned 2 x 2 
  • Total equivalent unbinned exposure time of 6.5 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. 660ft
• Date:  October 2nd, 2010