It's Galaxy Season 2023
It’s Galaxy Season
Galaxy season is one of my favorite times of the year. There are no shortage of galaxy targets within the Virgo Supercluster to image in the area bordered by the constellations Virgo, Bootes, Canes Venatici and Leo. You’ll need to be really organized to be able to grab all the available data as you can between now and mid summer.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, 2 targets that are favorites for all imagers just about every year are M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy and M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy are just about in prime imaging position as soon as it gets dark.
With the wealth of these and other single galaxy targets, it’s easy to overlook capturing multiple galaxies in a single image. There are a group of lesser known galaxies in Ursa Major which, while a bit more challenging to get can be captured in a single image.
You’re able to frame both NGC 3718 and NGC 3729 in a single image using equipment with a reasonable field of view. As a bonus with this careful framing, there are at least 4 faint spiral / elliptical galaxies that can be captured into the same image - PGC 35620, PGC 35631, PGC 35609 and UGC 6527.
Another choice to capture multiple galaxies in an image lie in the constellation of Leo. You have 2 multiple galaxy targets that most folks know about; the first is the Leo Triplet consisting of M65, M66 and NGC 3628 known as the M66 Group. The other target in Leo is called the M96 Group. This consists of at least 5 identifiable galaxies - M96, M95, M105, NGC 3389 and NGC 3384. It’s been said that there are actually 8 galaxies in this group.
That said, I’d recommend you consider a third choice in Leo located in the head of the lion. This group contains NGC 3190, NGC 3193, NGC 3187 and NGC 3185. All of these galaxies are 10th and 11th magnitude spiral and elliptical galaxies that with careful framing, would make a compelling astro image and a good target to challenge your data acquisition and processing skills.
Unfortunately, Telescope Live does not have 1-Click Observation data on these group targets. I’ve submitted these 2 targets as imaging suggestions to capture data on them, and their status is pending so maybe we’ll soon have data to work with. Fingers crossed…
Clear skies…
Image Credits -
M51; TelescopeLive 1-Click Observation Data & Processed in PixInsight
NGC 3718 Group; Imaged by Kurious George, Julian CA
NGC 3190 Group; Imaged by Stephen Leshin, Sedona AZ
