Copyright © 2007 Larry Phillips

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M94, The Starburst Galaxy, in the constellation Canes Venatici

Spiral Galaxy Cataloged as NGC 4736

This galaxy is part of the Local Group of galaxies which includes M31 and our own Milky Way Galaxies. This bright circular disk is surrounded by a ring of active star-forming regions (hence its name) which sharply separates it from a much less bright outer ring of an older yellowish stellar population.

Distance: The distance of M94 has not been well determined with estimates ranging
                from about 14 million to 33 million light years.
Camera: SBIG ST-2000XM
Telescope: Astrophysics Starfire 130 EDT F8
Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini Control with Advanced Telescope Systems
                portable pier
Images: 10 luminance @ 5 minutes each, 9 Red @ 5 minutes each, 10 Green
                @ 5 minutes each, 10 Blue @ 5 minutes each for a total exposure time of
                195 minutes. However, due to periodic thin cloud cover this exposure level
                is not shown in the image due to a lower signal to noise ratio on many of
                the images, especially with the blue filter.
Date: May 2007
Software: Camera and guider control - CCDSoft, Calibration and stacking, Creation of
                color image - CCDStack, further processing in Photoshop CS2.