Messier 106(Sbp) + tiny
friends
(members of the M106 group)
Object type: spiral galaxy (Sb)
Size: ~ 19x8'
Visual Brightness:~ 9.1
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Exposure data
Date: 2007-05-19
Location: Postalm/ Austria (1300m)
Telescope: TMB 80/480 (3.1" Apo f=480mm)
Camera: Starlight XPress SXV-H9
Image type: LRGB
Binning: 1x1 + 2x2
Exposure time: L 10x20' = 3h 20
Exposure time: RGB 21x5' = 1h 45
Exposure time total: 5h 05
Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.
The bright Sb spiral galaxy M106 is perhaps about 21 to 25 million light years distant. It is receding at 537 km/sec. Sandage suspects it may be a member of the Ursa Major cloud, a loose agglomeration of galaxies which probably also homes M108 and M109, while Tully lists it in the Coma-Sculptor cloud, and Fouque et.al (1992) in a group called Canes Venatici II (CVn II) group or M106 group of galaxies. While M106 is usually classified as peculiar "normal" spiral of type Sb (or Sbp), Tully classifies it as SABbc, i.e., intermediate between Sb and Sc, and intermediate between normal and barred spirals.