M96
Galaxy in Leo
About
An intermediate spiral galaxy in Leo, about 31 million light-years away and the brightest member of the M96 group. It is roughly as large and massive as the Milky Way, and the Type Ia supernova SN 1998bu, the brightest of 1998, appeared in it, peaking near magnitude 11.6.
Imaging tips
- Spans a third to half of the frame at 3,460–5,770 mm on APS-C, so a long focal length and fine pixel scale are needed.
- At 21.7 mag/arcsec² the core is bright but the outer arms and dust are not: expose long enough in broadband to hold both.
- M95 is about 41′ away, so a mosaic or wide field is needed to show the pair; one imager fitted M95, M96 and M105 together on a 155 mm refractor with a large sensor.
- That image took 9 × 10-minute subs per RGB channel, about 4.5 hours in total.
- Best around February and March; it reaches about 52° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 7′ × 5′
- Magnitude
- 9.2
- Coordinates
- RA 10h 46.8m, Dec +11° 49′
- Framing, APS-C
- 3460–5770 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Feb, Mar
- Peak altitude
- 52° from 50°N, 67° from 35°N