NGC 4651 - The Umbrella Galaxy

In my quest to search for objects not often imaged I came across a giant umbrella in space (NGC 4651).  This is a relatively small object which may explain not many images of it exist on Astrobin.  It is a spiral galaxy 62 million light-years away located in constellation Coma Berenices.  The galaxy is about the same size as our own Milky Way with one addition - a 100 thousand light-year long stream of star-trails gravitationally stripped from a smaller satellite galaxy that resembles a giant umbrella.  Researchers using the Subaru and Keck telescopes have identified the remnant core of the satellite galaxy.  On my image the remnant core of the smaller galaxy is the blue dot located just before the 'T intersection' where the umbrella shaft meets the top.

Aside from being very busy lately, the weather has been horrible in April and most of May.  So I shot this between the clouds and trees over five nights.  I do have a new addition - the Pegasus Pocket Powerbox (PPB) which works really well - I constructed a holder for it, my autoguider, finder scope, and USB Hub out of a aluminum plate that I show at a later date - I just wanted to image something.

Processing was tough on this because I wanted to make sure I got the umbrella.  Not surprisingly, it showed up best with the luminosity exposures (much better). For this reason I would not recommend imaging this object with a DSLR or OSC camera.  Good thing I did not choose this to make a tutorial.  I went back and forth with PI and PS in order to get something I was satisfied with.  Anyway, it is my first image in over a month. 

Crop

Wide Field 

NGC 4651 - Umbrella GalaxyLocation: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 5-21-19, 5-22-19, 5-28-19, 6-1-19, 6-4-19
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm
f/7
Focal Reducer: Astro-Tech 0.8x Focal Reducer/Field Flattener for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO R, G, B, L
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: R 49 x 90, G 49 x 90, B 41 x 90, L 137 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 8 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/