NGC4244 – Silver Needle Galaxy
NGC4244, known as the Silver Needle Galaxy, is an edge-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, about 14 million light-years away. It has an angular size of approximately 17 arcminutes and a visual magnitude of +10.4. It is notable for its extremely thin, elongated morphology, a result of our viewing angle, which reveals its galactic disc without a prominent central bulge.
General information
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Category
- Galaxies
- Date
- 22 March 2026
Capture
- Total time
- Aprox. 9h
- Subframes
- 300s (Ha: 14x, CLS: 39x) bin1; 300s (R: 17x, G: 17x, B: 17x) bin2
- Gain / Offset
- 125 / 30
- Calibration
- 30 flat frames, 30 dark-flat frames and 40 library dark frames, without bias frames
Equipment
- Telescope
- TS102 f/5.6
- Camera
- ASI294MM at -10ºC
- Filters
- Ha Astronomik, 6 nm; CLS, R, G and B Astronomik
- Mount
- Sky Watcher Wave 150i
- Guiding
- PHD2, Guide scope 60mm/f4 + ASI220MM + PegasusAstro UCH + PPBMicro
- Focuser
- ZWO EAF
- Filter wheel
- ZWO EFW 7pos
Processing and environment
- Processing
- Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.9.3
- Acquisition
- NINA
- Location
- l'Ampolla
- Sky
- Bortle 4