Another Leo Trio ... Messier 105, NGC 3384 & NGC 3389
(Click on Picture for larger view)
NGC3389_Feb14_2020.jpg
Added February 14, 2020 ...
Three Galaxies in Leo ... Messier 105 with NGC 3384 & NGC 3389
Besides the famous "Triplet in Leo" or "Trio in Leo" (M65, M66, & NGC 3628) this is another triplet of galaxies which two of them are part of the "Leo 1 group" of galaxies. These 3 are sometimes know as "A Duo and a Ghost". The little spiral Galaxy New General Catalog (NGC) 3389 appears as a ghost to the two larger and brighter galaxies. These are elliptical Galaxies NGC 3379 (M-105), and Lenticular Galaxy NGC 3384. The two larger galaxies are yellow in color indicating very old stars while the distant spiral galaxy in the lower left is mostly blue in color indicating many young hot stars.
All of these are a part of the Leo galaxy group. The two brighter ones are about 32-36 million light-years away while the 'ghost' galaxy NGC 3389 is about 70 million light-years away and not part of that local group. If you look closely in the NGC 3389 picture, you can see even more far distant galaxies below it, which I'm guessing well over 250 million light-years away!
The Techy Stuff ... For those who want to know ...
Telescope: 11" Celestron Edge HD at f/10
Mount: Celestron CGX
Mount setting and alignment via Celestron PWI software
Rig to Indoor Computer Connection: USB 2 196 feet Extender via cat 6 cable
System Alignment: Celestron StarSense
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c Pro TEC
Binning: 2x2
Sensor Temp: -15°C (5°F)
Filter: None
Settings: Gain: 900
24 Sub-Frames at 300sec ea (2hr)
Calibration Frames: 16 Dark, 30 Flats
Guiding: Orion Digital StarShoot Mono camera & 60mm Altair Scope
Guiding Software: PHD2 V2.6.7
Capture Software: SharpCap Pro
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker @ 2x Drizzle
Post processing in PixInsight & Photoshop CC
Focus Controller:
Celestron Auto Focuser
Light Pollution: Bortle zone 4.5 (Barely can see the Milky Way)
Sky Condition: 10 (0-10 with 10 the clearest possible)
Lunar Interference: None
Temperature: 45°F (7.2°C)
Date: February 14, 2020
Location: My Backyard, Savannah, GA
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