- R60 minutes (6 frames)
- G60 minutes (6 frames)
- B60 minutes (6 frames)
- L140 minutes (14 frames)
Spiral galaxy M 74, also known as NGC 628 or the Ghost Galaxy, is located about 30 million light-years from the Sun in the constellation Pisces. It contains about 100 billion stars and is a typical example of a spiral galaxy, with bright spiral arms and dark filaments of cosmic dust that are clearly visible in images. These characteristics make M74 one of the brightest and most interesting galaxies in space to observe.
Features
The galaxy has two distinct spiral arms, which are especially bright due to the large number of blue stars and ionized hydrogen, which emits pink light. Dark dust lanes run along the arms, starting near the galaxy's core and continuing along the arms. It is one of the most striking manifestations of star formations in spiral galaxies.
In March 2005, the Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered an ultramicroscopic X-ray source at the center of the galaxy that is 10,000 times more massive than the Sun and generates more energy than a neutron star. It turned out that an intermediate-mass black hole is located at the center.
Observations and discoveries
M 74 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, and was soon included in the Charles Messier catalog as number 74. It has become known as a typical example of a grand spiral galaxy, due to its bright and symmetrical structure, and is used to study the structure of spiral arms and density waves in galaxies.
The galaxy is the dominant member of a small group of galaxies known as the M 74 group. It is one of the most difficult galaxies to observe in the Messier catalog, due to its low surface brightness.
The Hubble image of the galaxy is a composite image taken using data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2003 and 2005. This image beautifully shows both the spiral arms, dark dust lanes, and star formation regions of the galaxy.
| Photo | Date | Frames | Exposure | L | R | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 19 Mar 2021 | 32 | 05:20 | 02:20 | 01:00 | 01:00 | 01:00 |
Visibility chart of Spiral Galaxy (M 74) during the day
| Date | Moon Phase | Exposure | CCD Temperature | Gain | Offset | Filter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- 2023ixf•
- 40 Eri•
- Abell 74•
- Artemis A868 SA•
- a Canis Minoris•
- C 2020 R4 ATLAS•
- C 2020 T2 Palomar•
- C 2021 S3 (PANSTARRS)•
- Haumea (2003 EL61)•
- HCG 68•
- HCG 92•
- IC 1318B•
- IC 1396•
- IC 1795•
- IC 1805•
- IC 1848•
- IC 1871•
- IC 3322A•
- IC 342•
- IC 4015•
- IC 405•
- IC 417•
- IC 434•
- IC 443•
- IC 4703•
- IC 5070•
- IC 5146•
- IC 63•
- M 1•
- M 101•
- M 103•
- M 109•
- M 13•
- M 15•
- M 27•
- M 3•
- M 33•
- M 42•
- M 45•
- M 5•
- M 51•
- M 57•
- M 63•
- M 64•
- M 74•
- M 76•
- M 81•
- M 82•
- M 86•
- M 87•
- M 94•
- M 97•
- NGC 147•
- NGC 1491•
- NGC 1499•
- NGC 1579•
- NGC 1961•
- NGC 2146•
- NGC 2239•
- NGC 2403•
- NGC 281•
- NGC 4236•
- NGC 4565•
- NGC 4631•
- NGC 507•
- NGC 508•
- NGC 5866•
- NGC 5907•
- NGC 6503•
- NGC 6823•
- NGC 6888•
- NGC 6946•
- NGC 6992•
- NGC 6995•
- NGC 7000•
- NGC 7023•
- NGC 7129•
- NGC 7217•
- NGC 7331•
- NGC 7380•
- NGC 7538•
- NGC 7635•
- NGC 7640•
- NGC 7822•
- NGC 891•
- NGC 896•
- NGC 925•
- PGC 54559•
- Sh2-155•
- Sh2-168•
- Sh2 103•
- Sh2 109•
- Sh2 132•
- T CrB•
- UGC 6930•
- V1405 Cas•
- Vesta A807 FA•