Messier 77
The Squid Galaxy. Barred Spiral Galaxy, Cetus
Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068 or the Squid Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is about 47 million light-years (14 Mpc) away from Earth. Messier 77 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, who originally described it as a nebula. Méchain then communicated his discovery to Charles Messier, who subsequently listed the object in his catalog. Both Messier and William Herschel described this galaxy as a star cluster. Today, however, the object is known to be a galaxy.
The morphological classification of NGC 1068 in the De Vaucouleurs system is (R)SA(rs)b, where the ‘(R)’ indicates an outer ring-like structure, ‘SA’ denotes a non-barred spiral, ‘(rs)’ means a transitional inner ring/spiral structure, and ‘b’ says the spiral arms are moderately wound. Ann et al. (2015) gave it a class of SAa, suggesting tightly wound arms. However, infrared images of the inner part of the galaxy reveal a prominent bar not seen in visual light, and for this reason it is now considered a barred spiral.
Messier 77 is an active galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is obscured from view by astronomical dust at visible wavelengths. The diameter of the molecular disk and hot plasma associated with the obscuring material was first measured at radio wavelengths by the VLBA and VLA. The hot dust around the nucleus was subsequently measured in the mid-infrared by the MIDI instrument at the VLTI. It is the brightest and one of the closest and best-studied type 2 Seyfert galaxies, forming a prototype of this class.
The morphological classification of NGC 1068 in the De Vaucouleurs system is (R)SA(rs)b, where the ‘(R)’ indicates an outer ring-like structure, ‘SA’ denotes a non-barred spiral, ‘(rs)’ means a transitional inner ring/spiral structure, and ‘b’ says the spiral arms are moderately wound. Ann et al. (2015) gave it a class of SAa, suggesting tightly wound arms. However, infrared images of the inner part of the galaxy reveal a prominent bar not seen in visual light, and for this reason it is now considered a barred spiral.
Messier 77 is an active galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is obscured from view by astronomical dust at visible wavelengths. The diameter of the molecular disk and hot plasma associated with the obscuring material was first measured at radio wavelengths by the VLBA and VLA. The hot dust around the nucleus was subsequently measured in the mid-infrared by the MIDI instrument at the VLTI. It is the brightest and one of the closest and best-studied type 2 Seyfert galaxies, forming a prototype of this class.
Telescope: Planewave CDK17 (FR) f4.5
Mount: Astro Physics 1600GTO
Camera: QHY16200A/ Integral FW
Guider: Agena Starguide II / ZWO ASI178MM
Filters: Astronomik 36mm LRGB
L: 35×10 mins = 350 mins, R: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, G: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, B: 24×10 mins = 240 mins
Total Imaging Time: 17h 50m
Data Imaged remotely on 7 nights during August & September 2023.
Imaged from Observatorio El Sauce, Chile, in partnership with Fred Espenak.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.
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