M85, NGC4394 & IC 3292 in LHaRGB (Coma Benenices) , April 2023
Planewave CDK12.5" telecope and A-P 1100GTO AE mount
ASI6200MM Camera, Antlia Pro BB & 3nm Ha Filters
Lum (40 x 200s exposures, Bin 2x2, Gain 100)
RGB (3 x 25 x 200s exposures, Bin 2x2 Gain 100)
Ha (15 x 600s exposures, Bin 2x2, Gain 100)
Total Integration Time = 8.9 hours
M85, the galaxy in the centre of this image is peculiar in that it has some of the attributes of a spiral galaxy, and some of an elliptical. There is little evidence of Ha emission, active stellar nurseries and most of the 400 billion stars are very old. The strange distribution of stars form shells or ripples around the core. This is thought to be a result of M85 being composed of two separate galaxies that merged 4-7 billion years ago. Also, M85 is believed to be interacting with its neighbours, NCG4394 and IC 3292, both of which are indicative of more common spiral and elliptical shapes respectively. Indeed, while molecular hydrogen signals were not recorded from M85, there seems to be plenty of star formation occurring within NGC4394.
Even stranger, th M85 galaxy is thought to be absent any super-massive black hole at it centre. M85 was the site of two supernova in 1960 and 2020, and a red nova was recorded in 2006.
Due to partial cloudiness, many frames had to be rejected from the pool collected on this target.