M104

This is one of my best images of the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) and one of the most interesting targets I have worked on because of the huge number of tiny background galaxies spread across the field along with the faint outer halo and diffuse streams surrounding the galaxy.

The main challenge during processing was to carefully bring out the extremely faint structures without over-stretching the data or introducing excessive noise. I spent significant time working in PixInsight and Photoshop to maintain a natural balance between the galaxy, IFN, and background sky.

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120 ED Pro

Reducer: Riccardi 0.75× Field Reducer

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

Mount: ZWO AM5 Harmonic Drive

Filters: Antlia 3nm LRGB (2")

Location: AstroCamp, Nerpio, Albacete, Spain

Sky Quality: Bortle 1

Elevation: 1670m

Total Integration: 33.5 Hours

Processing: PixInsight & Adobe PhotoshoP

Image Processing: Harshwardhan Pathak