Leo I Dwarf Galaxy Dwarf spheroidal Local Group Galaxy in Leo

Uploaded 5/8/10

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 Located just .3 degrees due north of the brilliant first magnitude star Regulus - the brightest star in Leo, this very dim Local Group member is an outlier to the Milky way galaxy, just beyond the Magellenic Clouds. Known also as UGC5470, this very low surface brightness object spans 10 arcminutes in size - the same apparent size of the great Hercules globular cluster, but is a very dim and spread out 11.2 magnitude. Classified as an E3 elliptical galaxy, its brightest stars are 18.5 magnitude, with most much fainter. It was a pleasant surprise that I was able to record stars all across the face of this enigmatic object, seen well in the larger images.

The brilliant B7 star at the bottom is of course Regulus, 1.4th magnitude and greatly overexposed here. Attempts shooting this pair with the CCD always were very disappointing, due to the huge blooms I got from Regulus obscuring everything in the field. Here, the DSLR is supreme for this object and focal length.

Hordes of other smaller galaxies occupy this 1.5 degree wide field. The brightest is right of Leo I, IC591. It is 14.1 magnitude, a tiny spiral at 1.3 arc minutes in size. The tiny yellowish galaxy to its lower right is 15th magnitude, and much more distant.

Optics: 8" f/4 Newtonian Astrograph w/Baader MPCC Coma Corrector Platform: Astrophysics AP1200 Camera: Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800 Exposure: 10 x 5m = 50mins Location: Payson, Arizona Elevation: 5150 ft. Sky: Seeing 7/10, Transparency 9/10 Outside Temperature: 45F Processing Tools: Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82 HOME GALAXIES EMISSION NEBS REFLECTION NEBS COMETS GLOBULARS OPEN CLUST PLANETARIES LINKS