The NGC 4631 Group is a poorly defined group of galaxies, about 25 million light-years from Earth in the Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici constellations.
The NGC 4631 Group is one of many that lie within the Virgo Supercluster
NGC 4631 (also known as the Whale Galaxy or Caldwell 32) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici about 30 million light years away from Earth. It was discovered on 20 March 1787 by German-British astronomer William Herschel. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname. Because this nearby galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth, professional astronomers observe this galaxy to better understand the gas and stars located outside the plane of the galaxy
NGC 4656/57 is a highly warped edge-on barred spiral galaxy located in the local universe 30 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy is sometimes called the Hockey Stick Galaxy or the Crowbar Galaxy. Its unusual shape is thought to be due to an interaction between NGC 4656, NGC 4631, and NGC 4627
After a decent haul of clear nights here is some new images. This is my NGC 4631 The Whale Galaxy and its buddy NGC 4656 The Hockey Stick Galaxy. With crops of each at full resolution. A total of 10 hours using LRGB filters with my 190MN scope and ZWO 2600MM camera. #astrophotography #galaxy π
12.04.2025 20:36 β π 71 π 10 π¬ 2 π 0
Thank you βΊοΈ Wow bortle 1 is pretty wild, I would expect the full Moon may have less impact especially if well off axis. Would be interested to see the results, I imagine gradient will be the challenge.
11.04.2025 18:29 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Itβs a great target, I first saw it through the eyepiece 20 years ago in my little 6β Newt, then it was just a fuzzy blob, but I found it by hand and I was chuffed βΊοΈ
10.04.2025 21:37 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Do you let the Seestar do all the processing or do you do it in separate software.
10.04.2025 20:27 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Nicely done, Iβm seeing some great shots out of the Seestar ππ»
10.04.2025 20:23 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
A globular cluster, a compact group of over one hundred thousand stars. Located 22,000 light years from Earth.
With the Moon big and bright I decided to switch to Globluar Clusters, here is my image of M13 The Great Gobular Cluster in Hercules. Several hundred thousand stars, mind blown π€―. Total of 2 hours Luminance and 1.5 hours each RGB using 190MN and ZWO 2600MM #Astrophotography #space #stars π
10.04.2025 19:39 β π 121 π 8 π¬ 3 π 1
Iβll send these clear skies over to you, it looks like itβs all going back to normal cloud and rain on Sunday here. The Moon is a crashing the party atm, I have abandoned my galaxy imaging and gone for some globular clusters for a couple of nights ππ»
10.04.2025 15:54 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Clear nights appear to be like buses, you wait for ages then 5 come at once.
10.04.2025 09:24 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Thank you for babysitting them, hopefully you will get some clearer skies soon π€π»
10.04.2025 06:21 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Hah, yeah I know, but Itβs all going back to factory settings on Sunday π¬
09.04.2025 22:07 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Not sure if itβs just me but for us UK based astrophotographers this must be the longest continuous streak of clear nights in decades, I think I have had nearly 3 weeks of cloudless skies so far βΊοΈ, itβs so unusual, normally itβs a few a month at best #astrophotography
09.04.2025 21:06 β π 44 π 3 π¬ 6 π 0
Here is Mare Imbrium and craters including Plato, Cassini, Archimedes and others, see the annotated version for more info. This is my image from this last night with a ZWO 2600MM and 190MN scope, best 200 frames from 1000 standard luminance filter. #Astrophotography #thephotohour #space π
08.04.2025 18:34 β π 21 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
The crater Copernicus, a large impact crater on the Moon
The crater Copernicus, named after Nicholas Copernicus - Polish Astronomer (1473-1543). It is 93km wide and 3.8km deep. This is my image from this last night with a ZWO 2600MM and 190MN scope, best 200 frames from 1000 standard luminance filter. #Astrophotography #thephotohour #space π
08.04.2025 17:41 β π 23 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
lol same here, maybe one day.
06.04.2025 10:32 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Great shot Rob, really looks like you are in actual orbit around the Moon ππ»
06.04.2025 10:13 β π 15 π 2 π¬ 2 π 0
A super Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) by Darren, can be a tough target for our latitude here in UK, need a clear southern horizon.
06.04.2025 10:10 β π 8 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Waxing Cresent Moon 3.8 days old
Tonights Moon, 100 frames with 190MN Scope and ZWO 2600MM cam. Some Moony facts -
15.7% Illuminated
3.8 days old
Waxing Crescent
360,230km from Earth
-6.9 Visual Magnitude
33.2 arcmin Apparent size
#astrophotography #moon #luna
01.04.2025 19:26 β π 28 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
The central region of the Rosette Nebula, also known as SH2-275 and contains the open cluster NGC 2244. There is a blue central region comprising of OIII emmisons, there is an interesting collection of darker dust regions atthe bottom known as the Carnival of Animals
Here is my image of SH2-275 The Rosette Nebula, My FOV at this focal length can't fit it all in, but this is the central region. 2.5 hours each of SII, H-Alpha and OIII imaged with a ZWO 2600MM and 190MN scope. Love the dust formations, how many animals can you spot? #Astrophotography #nebula π
29.03.2025 19:53 β π 331 π 34 π¬ 17 π 2
Classic UK weather for todays partial solar eclipse π , for the rest of the week though itβs wall to wall sunshine, first year I have had access to a solar scope I could use too, gutted.
29.03.2025 09:12 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Super M101 by Manuel
24.03.2025 08:10 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Great job Manuel, you have got the colour balance perfect
24.03.2025 08:09 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
As it doesnβt have a spider to hold the secondary you donβt get diffraction spikes on stars so the images are more akin to a refractor which may or may not be a personal preference βΊοΈ
23.03.2025 17:46 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
For ease of use itβs simpler than a coma corrected newt, as you donβt need to worry about precise back spacing, so the image train is simpler, itβs heavy though (steel tube) and requires a longer cool down and a decent dew shield
23.03.2025 17:45 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
For APS-C sensors its correction is spot on if collimated well, there is some vignetting but easily corrected with flats. Collimation is a little harder than an equivalent F/5 Newt as you donβt have easy access to the secondary due to the front meniscus, but with care itβs ok.
23.03.2025 17:43 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Yes, really nice scope, been my workhorse for the past 14 years.
23.03.2025 17:08 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
A large spiral galaxy surrounded by thousands of stars. There are faint dust lanes visible in the galaxy.
Been a while due to poor weather, but a couple of nights of clear skies mean more images :) here is my image of M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy. This is 4 hours Lum and 1.5 hours each of R,G and B. Imaged with my 190MN scope and ZWO 2600MM camera. #astrophotography #space #galaxyπ
23.03.2025 17:00 β π 107 π 24 π¬ 1 π 0
Wow π¬ , hope you are having a great time, always really wanted to go to the Maldives, is it as good as it looks on the adverts ποΈ πΉ
08.03.2025 14:27 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
40 percent illuminated Moon, it is in the waxing crescent phase so is becoming more illuminated each passing day. Lots of craters can be seen, especially along the terminator, the line between night and day on the Moons surface
Finally some clear skies!! here is last nights Waxing Crescent 40% illumininated, 6.4 day old Moon imaged from UK with a 190MN and ZWO 2600MM cam. Hopefully some more clear skies forecast for the weekend π #astrophotography #Moon #Luna #thephotohour
06.03.2025 19:58 β π 43 π 4 π¬ 0 π 0
Great image Darren
15.02.2025 09:43 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
A super image of the California Nebula, love the detail and the structure in this image, Darren has done a great job of adding some depth to this fascinating nebula. ππ»
15.02.2025 09:42 β π 11 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
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