NGC 4939

Click on image for larger version.

NGC 4939 is a very pretty example of a spiral galaxy. The arms of this galaxy are unusually thin and long. There are many starforming regions dotting the spiral arms- but at a distance of 130 million light years away the majority of them are quite dim. If this galaxy was viewed face-on it would appear nearly circular- not unlike NGC 488. NGC is also considered an active galaxy because its nucleus varies in intensity on relatively short timescales and it has had two recorded supernovae events (back in 1968 and 1973).

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 = 90 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 2x2
  • The AO-7 unit was used to acquire this image.
  • Two iterations of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp were 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: 02/06/04