AP#42 : NGC 4038 and 4039
Name: The "Antennae Galaxies" or "Ringtail" Galaxy.
Constellation:Corvus
Instrument:
Image 1: 8-inch F5 reflector with sky watcher coma corrector and modified Nikon D3300.
Image 2: 8-inch F5 reflector with sky watcher coma corrector and ASI 585 camera (gain 252 -20C).
Exposure time:
Image 1: A stack of 16 five-minute exposures at ISO 800.
Image 2: A stack of 9 three-minute and 16 five-minute exposures.
Star Chart from Michael Vlasov's Deep sky hunter star atlas available on line https://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html
Magnitude: NGC 4038 = 11.2 NGC 4039 = 11.1
Angular size: NGC 4038= 5.2' X 3.1' NGC 4039= 3.1' X 1.6'
These two galaxies are an excellent example of two interacting galaxies. While the two galaxies are each less than 10 minutes of arc, they combine to form an object of 21'. Coupled with the unique nature of these galaxies makes them worthy of being on the list.
This image was taken with an ASI 585 astro camera.
