M94 — Cat's Eye Galaxy
Galaxy in Canes Venatici
About
A spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici, about 16 million light-years away, with a bright inner starburst ring about 5,400 light-years across and an outer zone of spiral arms about 45,000 light-years across. Its core hides a black hole of about 16 million Suns.
Imaging tips
- About 11′ by 9′, so 2,200–3,670 mm on APS-C (3,380–5,630 mm full frame) frames it.
- In a single frame the core appears as a bright star-like dot; one 7.6 hour image was taken from a Bortle 9 site, with the halo recovered despite the city sky.
- The outer halo is faint: an older 110-minute image found it barely above the camera noise, and the author at first doubted it was real.
- Best in March and April.
Facts
- Size
- 11′ × 9′
- Magnitude
- 8.2
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 50.9m, Dec +41° 7′
- Framing, APS-C
- 2200–3670 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 3380–5630 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- 81° from 50°N, 84° from 35°N