M87 in Virgo 26th March 2020 @ 02:22 UT
Another blob of light 55 million light years away.
Image: 15 seconds x 40 frames (600 seconds total), gain 6579, bin 1x1, Raw 14, black level 99, camera temperature 5.8 deg C, 1 dark. Stacked in SharpCap Pro 3.2.6248.0. The image was stacked and adjusted in SharpCap. The image was scaled down and cropped in GIMP.
I should have spent longer exploring the image. It needs much longer than 10 minutes of soaking up photons.
A little processing in GIMP showed up the jet of plasma emanating from the black hole at the centre of M87. Inverting the image made it much easier to see. See Wikipedia for more information.
Equipment: Celestron CPC-800 at F5.9, Alt-Az mount, Altair Astro Hypercam 294C Pro Cooled (fan), Celestron Focuser, CPWI controlled remotely via Microsoft RDP and ASCOM.
Astrometry: M 87 is 55 million light years distant.
Charles Messier discovered M 87 in 1781.