NGC 474 Region

Elliptical Galaxy NGC 474, upper right, is 100 MLY distant in the constellation Pisces. From the image, spectacular tidal shells and tidal tails can be seen emanating from this large galaxy. These tidal features have been extensively studied but the origins are still in question. One study concluded that the shells were caused by NGC 474 colliding and merging with a spiral galaxy 1.3 billion light years in the past. (Astronomy & Astrophysics, aanda.org)

Image processed by Andrew Macica, original data from Telescope Live.

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile

Telescope: Planewave CDK24

Aperture: 610 mm (24 inches), f/6.5

Focal Length: 3962 mm

Camera: QHY 600M Pro CMOS

Filters: LRGB

Total Exposure: 13 hours 20 min.

Image Processing: PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.1;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.2

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.