Messier 74 The Phantom Galaxy
April 11th 2008 03:51
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Looking through a telescope can be rewarding, and at times somewhat frustrating. The summer months are great there is an abundance of clear skies, but if you are willing to put up with the mozzies and insects. The winter season has its problems too, cold night’s lenses fogging up. In view of all these “obstacles” I still take out my telescope and just look at the universe. I guess it is like a favourite television show you watch it and then years later enjoy the re-runs.
I remember trying to getting a faint glimpse through my telescope some years ago of Messier 74 with some success. M74 is so faint and difficult to see through amateur telescopes that it has been nicknamed the "Phantom Galaxy". Messier 74 is located around 32 million light years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces, the Fish. It is estimated to contain 100 billion stars, making it a little smaller than the Milky Way.
The Hubble Space Telescope has taken some spectacular images of M74 almost face-on, revealing its Catherine wheel-like shape with star-studded arms emanating from a central nucleus. The galaxy was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Mechain in 1780. Later it was added to Charles Messier's catalogue of deep-sky objects.
This image is actually a composite picture made up of Hubble images captured in 2003 and 2005.
I remember trying to getting a faint glimpse through my telescope some years ago of Messier 74 with some success. M74 is so faint and difficult to see through amateur telescopes that it has been nicknamed the "Phantom Galaxy". Messier 74 is located around 32 million light years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces, the Fish. It is estimated to contain 100 billion stars, making it a little smaller than the Milky Way.
This image is actually a composite picture made up of Hubble images captured in 2003 and 2005.
This is a composite image made from several past images taken by the Hubble Telescope of M74
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