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In this new image, I was able to easily fit the Leo Duet pair of Galaxies in one shot, something which was impossible to do with my old ST7E. I always find the dust lane detail in these galaxies a good test of processing skills and sky transparency. The galaxy on the left is M66, a 9.7 magnitude SABSpiral, rich with blue star forming regions and yellowish dust lanes. To the right is M65, a fainter 10.3 magnitude SAB spiral with a more nearly edge on orientation. Several very faint galaxies dot the field. The most prominent is directly above M66, a 17th magnitude object, which is .2 minutes in size.

I strongly recommend you view the larger files to see the finer details in this image, the 800 size is fine for color, however at least the 1200 is needed to view the hordes of tiny galaxies in this field, and the minute galaxy structure.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST8i NABG
Guider: SBIG ST4
Exposure:  LRGB = 60:20:20:40 (RGB Binned 2x2)
RGB Combine Ratio:  1: .8: 1.2
Filters:  RGB Tricolor
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FWHM = 3.0 arcsec (Maxim DL - 10min subframe), Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  5 C
CCD Temperature:  -10 C
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, RG Sigma, Photoshop, AIP4WIN, PW Pro, RW Debloomer.

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