The famous Whirlpool Galaxy Messier 51 is shown along with the smaller galaxy NGC 5195 at the top of the image. (Image credit: Dr. Michelle Hernandez Bayliss)
Vermont astrophotographer Michelle Hernandez Bayliss captured stunning images of Messier 94, also known as the Eye of the Crocodile, and the famous Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51), both located in the constellation Canes Venatici.
The Crocodile Eye Galaxy was captured on the nights of April 20 and 21 using the Takahashi TOA-130NFB refractor in conjunction with the Stellarvue SVX140T-R telescope, along with a host of peripherals needed for stable deep-sky imaging.
Over 20 hours, Hernandez Bayliss used telescopes to image M94 through a series of luminosity, red, green, and blue (LRGB) filters, then combined the data using computer software to create a stunning view of the spiral galaxy located 34 million light-years from our solar system.
“The challenge with galaxies is the processing. For the Crocodile Eye, the challenge was that it was much smaller than I expected in my 990mm telescope, but I was able to crop it a bit,” Hernandez Bayliss explained in an email to Space.com. “It’s also very bright in the core, so I had to reduce the HDR a bit to bring out the core, and carefully work with the synthetic brightness I created from LRGB,” she added, referring to the filters used to capture the data.
Hernandez Bayliss was a longtime visual astronomer before she recently turned to astrophotography. She has spent the last two years building an observatory in her backyard in Weybridge, Vermont.
“Another challenge is getting dark nights with no moon to view galaxies and clear nights, as we don't have many clear nights in Vermont. So it was great to get two nights in a row with no clouds, no moon and clear skies – a real miracle!”
A portrait of the Crocodile Eye galaxy M94, compiled from 20 hours of telescopic observations by astrophotographer Michelle Hernandez Bayliss.
Back in February, Hernandez Bayliss targeted the Whirlpool Galaxy, using a combination of RGB and hydrogen-alpha (Ha) filters to capture the fine structural details of Messier 51, pictured above.
To the collection
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