M98

Click on image for larger version.

M98 is one of the many members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies around 40-50 million light years away. Generally the expansion of the universe provides a good method for measuring galaxies at this distance- however M98 has a large velocity within the Virgo Cluster and instead of redshifted light the galaxy is one of a few blueshifted examples. This means that we observe the net velocity towards us due to the addition of the its recessional velocity and its intrinsic velocity in the cluster.

The high inclination of the galaxy severely dims many of the starforming regions in the disk. A face-on view might reveal a galaxy similar to M106. Due to the paucity of guide stars for this object- it was not possible to better center the image.

Equipment

20in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/8.4
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 70 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 2x2
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

  • Digital Development (DDP) via Maxim/DL was also used in order to display the the very dim and very bright details of the image simultaneously.

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    Minimum credit line: Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 01/29/2004