Derby and District Astronomical Society



Messier 109 (NGC 3992)

Barred Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major
RA 11h 57m 36s  Dec +53° 23' 00"

[Messier Index]



The following wide field image was taken by Dave Selfe on the 26th February 2022. The bright star in the image is Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris) and M109 is visible to the right of it. The galaxy NGC 3953 is also visible near top centre and NGC 4102 at the centre right edge. Dave used a Nikon D750 camera with an Optolong L-Pro filter through a Skywatcher Esprit 100ED telescope. The image comprises 52 x 30s exposures at ISO 800. A cropped close-up version of M109 is also shown below the wide field image. Can you spot any other galaxies?  Image Credit: Dave Selfe.





Adrian Brown took the following image of M109 (NGC 3992) in April 2007. He used a clear infra-red blocking filter and a light pollution filter with an ATIK ATK16HR camera through a Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor at f7.5. This was guided using an ATIK ATK-2HS camera through a Skywatcher 80T refractor. The set up was mounted on a Celestron CGE mount. The image is comprised of twelve 10 minute exposures.  Image Credit: Adrian Brown.





Chris Newsome captured this image of M109 in January 2006. This barred spiral galaxy appears as the fuzzy patch just below the centre of the image. The very faint blob three quarters of the way from M109 to the upper right corner of the image is the 10th magnitude spiral galaxy NGC 3953. The bright star above left of centre is Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris). Chris comments that he will endeavour to take a better image in due course!  Image Credit: Chris Newsome.


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