M95

M95, sometimes referred to as the Tie Fighter Galaxy (well, maybe not), is an interesting barred spiral located in Leo, the lion. There's quite a bit of extension to the arms, but the overall surface brightness is very low (despite a 10.65 listed magnitude) and requires longer exposures. It measures 7.4' x 5' in size. This shot was taken at Chiefland in between clouds, which kept the total exposure to only 76 minutes.

Image info:

12"LX200 on a Losmandy Titan Mount

Starlight Express
SXV-H9C

19x4 mins

f/5.3 (Optec FR)

Stacked in Maxim with Sigma Reject (Russ Croman) and processed in Astroart (no darks and no flats)

guided with an STV on a piggybacked Sky90 refractor

3.14.04

Chiefland