M74 Galaxy – The real reason for Spiral Arms

Askar 151phq; AP Mach2 GTO
ASI6200MM, - Chroma Broadband and 5nm Ha Filters
L: (111 x 120s, Bin 1, Gain 100)
H: (51 x 720s Bin 1, Gain 100)
R,G,B: (48,59,61 x 180s, Bin 1, Gain 100)
Total integration time = 22.3 hrs (Oct 6 & -9-12, 2024) Maple Bay, BC, Canada

After a spell of travel and other work, I am happy to return to posting.

This image of the M74 (Messier 74) Spiral Galaxy is often used as the archetypal dual spiral galaxy, and I thought it was appropriate to use as a backdrop to my latest explanation of the structure of spiral galaxies. Those who have followed me in the past, know that I like to post technical and somewhat detailed explanations of what I believe is going on in our astrophotos. Other the the beauty of the images themselves (even though they pale in comparison with others’ posts), it is the challenge of the puzzle that I enjoy the most.

However, my explanations have sometimes be awkward to post alongside the images. For that reason, I have created a separate webside, entitled “AP real space” or “Astrophotography/Astrophysics Real Space” or aprealspace.com. I invite you to have a look at this website if you are interested in these explanation. Often I believe my explanation to be ground-breaking, if not revolutionary, as they bring in fields of science that have not been considered or assumed away in the conventional astrophysical literature – but yet I feel necessary to give a full explanation of what is going on.

The website is still under construction, but useable. I will be making a fuller announcement when I have included a few additional posts. Currently, you will find Part1, Part2, and Part3 of my spiral galaxy structure story. I will be continuing this series in the future to explain why galaxies don’t wind themselves up and why the arms revolve with an (almost) constant period. In the meantime, please leave a comment here or on the website to let me know if you find it entertaining or useful, what you think, if you agree or disagree, or even if you have a correction.

Otherwise – Clear Skies!