NGC 4631 – The Whale Galaxy

Description:

NGC 4631, the Whale Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy seen edge-on and located about 28 million light-years away.

It contains regions of intense star formation. Emissions of ionized hydrogen as well as the presence of interstellar dust heated by the radiation of several young massive stars bear witness to this intense activity.

Technical details:

Telescope: Celestron Edge HD14 with 0.7x focal reducer
Camera: ZWO ASI 1600
Filters LRGB Astrodon 1.25″
Exposure: a total of 65 6-minute subs
Place: Backyard observatory in Sainte-Sophie, Qc