Black Eye Galaxy
M64, NGC 4826 · Galaxy in Coma Berenices
- Magnitude
- 8.5
- Size
- 10′ × 5′
- Effective surface brightness
- 21.4 mag/arcsec²
- Best months
- Mar, Apr, May
- Declination
- +22°
- Filter
- None (broadband target)
A bright spiral with a dark dust band across the nucleus. The eye shows within an hour on a 50 mm scope.
Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
How long with each smart telescope
| Telescope | In frame | Bortle 3 (rural) | Bortle 5 (suburban) | Bortle 7 (urban edge) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO Seestar S5010 s subs | 23% | 15 min91 subs | 23 min137 subs | 56 min338 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S50 Pro10 s subs | 12% | 17 min101 subs | 25 min150 subs | 1 h 01 min368 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S3010 s subs | 14% | 17 min100 subs | 24 min146 subs | 58 min348 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S30 Pro10 s subs | 7% | 18 min107 subs | 27 min160 subs | 1 h 05 min389 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF 315 s subs | 10% | 20 min82 subs | 32 min129 subs | 1 h 24 min337 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF mini15 s subs | 14% | 15 min60 subs | 23 min91 subs | 56 min225 subs |
| DwarfLab Draco30 s subs | 13% | 15 min30 subs | 19 min38 subs | 46 min93 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF II15 s subs | 9% | 1 h 02 min249 subs | 1 h 23 min334 subs | 2 h 56 min706 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera II10 s subs | 12% | 15 min91 subs | 23 min137 subs | 56 min338 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera Pro10 s subs | 10% | 36 min216 subs | 52 min313 subs | 2 h 03 min736 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera 310 s subs | 11% | 14 min86 subs | 22 min131 subs | 54 min324 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera Pro 210 s subs | 10% | 34 min205 subs | 50 min298 subs | 1 h 57 min704 subs |
| Unistellar eQuinox 24 s subs | 29% | 18 min275 subs | 23 min347 subs | 44 min660 subs |
| Unistellar Odyssey4 s subs | 30% | 1 h 35 min1,420 subs | 1 h 52 min1,680 subs | 3 h 08 min2,821 subs |
| Celestron Origin10 s subs | 20% | 5 min30 subs | 6 min36 subs | 15 min93 subs |
| Celestron Origin Mark II10 s subs | 22% | 5 min30 subs | 8 min48 subs | 22 min130 subs |
Imaging the galaxy
Galaxies are broadband targets: their light is mostly starlight spread across the spectrum, so a dual-band filter throws most of it away and makes things slower, not faster. Shoot without a filter (or with a plain UV/IR cut) and rely on total time and a dark sky. The core of a galaxy is usually many times brighter than its outer disc, so a short stack shows the nucleus long before the arms; the figures here are for the arms and disc, not the core.
Field rotation in Alt-Az mode crops the edges of the stack over a long session, so on a big galaxy re-centre now and then or use EQ mode where your scope supports it.
Per-telescope pages
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the ZWO Seestar S50
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the ZWO Seestar S30
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the DwarfLab DWARF 3
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the DwarfLab DWARF mini
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the DwarfLab Draco
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the DwarfLab DWARF II
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Vaonis Vespera II
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Vaonis Vespera Pro
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Vaonis Vespera 3
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Unistellar eQuinox 2
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Unistellar Odyssey
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Celestron Origin
- How long to image the Black Eye Galaxy with the Celestron Origin Mark II