M106 - The Secret Galaxy
M106 - The Secret Galaxy
Technical data:Aquisition date: 23 March 2019Exposure: RGB 100x2 min, -15CTotal exposure: 3.3 hoursTelescope: Omegon 8" F4 AstrographMount: SW HEQ5 Pro beltCamera: ZWO ASI294 MC ProGuide: TS 60mm scope & T7 cameraControl: EQMOD, PHD2, Stelarium, APToolProcessing: PixInsight
Located at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from us and has a rather distinct feature, instead of two main spiral arms as we usually see, it appears to have four.
What's even more startling is that unlike the normal arms, these two extra elongated arms are made up of mostly hot gas rather than stars, and their origin remained unexplained until recently.
Astronomers think that the extra arms appear to be an indirect result of jets of material produced by the violent churning of matter around the super massive black hole it host in the middle.
