M74, Pisces
A beautiful spiral galaxy in Pisces.  M74 shines at a fairly bright magnitude 9.4 but since its face on it has a low surface brightness and is fairly dim.  It looks very similar to M101.  Many nebula and star forming regions can be seen in the spiral arms along with a hint of the mottles in the central core region.  Several dust lanes mark the spiral pattern.


Image Details

Optics      8" LX200 f6.3
Mount              LX200 fork mount
Camera
 Starlight Xpress SXV-H9
Filter
 Astronomik Type 2C
Date
 19-20 Nov 03
Location  
 My Backyard Observatory in Ocean Springs, MS, Limiting 4.5   
Exposure
 210:40:40:40  RGB binned 2X2
Notes
 Collimation problem caused  some blurring