Primordial
Light: NGC 2903 |
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| The Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2903 lies
at a distance of 20.5 million light years from Earth at RA 09h 32m
DEC 21° 29' in the constellation Leo. NGC 2903 has a visual magnitude
of 9.6. TeleVue 76, Canon 20D with Tele Vue .8x Focal Reducer/Field
Flattener. Two four-minute exposures @ ISO 400, combined in Photoshop.
This image has been enlarged 100% from the image below. As is often
the case with the objects I photograph, I did not see this object
visually; I used computer software to steer my telescope to it. Made
on February 12, 2005. Here is a 2010 photo of NGC 2903. |
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| The rest of the story: this wider view
of the NGC 2903 image reveals a smudge near the left side. That is
the magnitude 12.7 spiral galaxy NGC 2916. Extreme enlargement and
contrast enhancement of this image showed hints of spiral structure
in NGC 2916 as well. The distance to NGC 2916 is unknown. This photo
clearly illustrates why amateur astronomers often refer to deep-sky
objects as “faint fuzzies.” |
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