45 minutes exposure on Fuji Superia 400 film. 5" f/5 refractor, prime focus.
Combination of 10, 3 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.
| Object Type | Galaxy SBb |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Magnitude | 9.3 |
| Size | 6.5' x 6.0' |
M61 is a bright, face-on spiral galaxy that is a member of the Virgo cluster. It is easily visible in the telescope it appears as a bright eliptical haze with a bright nucleus. Even though M61 is situated about 10 degrees from the centre of the Virgo cluster, the region is still rich in faint galaxies. There are more than 20 in the photograph below.
Combination of 10, 3 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.
The bright galaxy in the lower left is the 12.2 magnitude NGC 4292, while the galaxy in the lower right is the 12.9 magnitude NGC 4301. there are numerous other galaxies fainter than 16.5 magnitude in the image.
The short streak to the right of M 61 is the asteroid 3015 Candy, which was the main object I was imaging at the time.