M95 and M96
 

Messier 95 (NGC3351) is a barred spiral galaxy about 33 million light-years away in the constellation Leo.

Close-by in Leo is Messier 96 (NGC3368), a spiral galaxy about 31 million light-years away.

M95 is in the upper-right corner of the photograph, and M96 is in the lower-left.




Equipment
 TMB-130SS APO refractor at f/7 on an Astro-Physics 1200 equatorial mount
SBIG ST-8XM camera
SBIG CFW-10 filter wheel with Astrodon filters
Guiding: 60mm f/5 refractor and ST-402 camera
Imaging and autoguiding with MaxIm DL 4.62
Exposure
Luminance   1.17 hours (14 x 5 min), unbinned, -16°C
Red   0.8 hour (21 x 5 min.), binned 2x2, -16°C
Green   2.1 hour (12 x 5 min.), binned 2x2, -16°C
Blue   1 hour (12 x 5 min.), binned 2x2, -16°C
Processing Image calibration, registration, sigma-reject, mean-combine in CCDStack.
Levels, curves, highpass filter, color-combine in Photoshop CS3.
Date and Location 2 April, 2010    Montpelier, VA    N 37° 49' 12", W 77° 42' 06"