SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Jon Greif
Location of Photo:
Alpine, CA, USA
Date/Time of photo:
July 1-12, 2026, between 9 pm and 11:30 pm PDT
Equipment:
TS-Optics 8" f/4 ONTC Newtonian Telescope, 10Micron GM1000HPS Mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, ZWO Red, Green, Blue and Ha filters, MoonLite focuser, NINA acquisition software and Pixinsight processing software.
Description:
The large galaxy in the center is Messier 106 (aka M106 and NGC 4258) an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and lies about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus and a central supermassive black hole. Numerous other galaxies are visible in this image, including NGC 4217, the edge-on galaxy to the left, believed to be a companion of M106. This image was shot from our Backyard Observatory using an 8 inch Newtonian reflecting telescope and represents approximately 12 hours of exposure time over 5 nights earlier this month.
