M74 — Phantom Galaxy
Galaxy in Pisces
About
NGC 628, a face-on spiral galaxy in Pisces about 32 million light-years away. It is a textbook grand-design spiral with two clear arms, and its low surface brightness makes it the hardest Messier object for visual observers. Three supernovae have appeared in it since 2002.
Imaging tips
- About 10′ across, so 2,420–4,040 mm on APS-C or 3,710–6,190 mm on full frame.
- Faint at 23 mag/arcsec². Reported totals range from 3.5 hours of 3 min subs with a DSLR to 32.5 hours at f/2 from a Bortle 1 site.
- At f/2, 300 s subs made the core hard to control. Faint dust clouds also cross the galaxy, so masks could not fully protect it.
- Calibrate carefully: one 4.2 h attempt without flats had dew-ring noise and poor transparency, and ended with an over-darkened background.
- Best from September to November; it stays below 56° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 10′ × 10′
- Magnitude
- 9.4
- Coordinates
- RA 1h 36.7m, Dec +15° 47′
- Framing, APS-C
- 2420–4040 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 3710–6190 mm
- Best months
- Sep, Oct, Nov
- Peak altitude
- 56° from 50°N, 71° from 35°N