M 106 (NGC 4258)

Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is located at a distance of approximately 22 to 25 million light-years from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated based on radio observations of the rotation of a molecular gas disk orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole.[8] NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy to Messier 106.[7] In addition to two visible arms, it has two "anomalous arms" detectable with an X-ray telescope.

A natural question might arise as to why I photographed the galaxy at such a focal length, and I have a simple answer for that. I shot it with what I had on hand and because it was high in the sky. But there are advantages. And that is the many small neighboring galaxies, and some of them even spark interest!

• NGC 4248 — a small spiral galaxy, a satellite of M106. In the image, it is located almost vertically above the central galaxy. Size is about 5×1.8'.
• NGC 4217 — a beautiful galaxy seen edge-on. It is the brightest elongated object in the upper right part of the image. Size is about 5.4×1.8'.
• NGC 4220 — a spiral galaxy in the upper left part of the frame. Size is about 3×1'.
• NGC 4346 — a small galaxy to the right of M106 (a faint oval spot). Size is about 2.5'.
• NGC 4231 — a faint elliptical galaxy located not far from NGC 4232. Size is about 2'.
• NGC 4232 — an irregularly shaped galaxy next to the previous one. Size is about 1.8'.
• NGC 4288 — a small elongated spiral galaxy in the right part of the field. Size is about 1.7'.
• NGC 4281 — a small elliptical galaxy. Size is about 1.6'.
• NGC 4256 — a compact spiral galaxy. Size is about 1.4'.

This is already my second attempt at imaging this galaxy. The first one is still awaiting processing, but it is even worse there, essentially the same resolution (one degree per pixel). So let's compare 2600mm + 0.75x with the 294MM at 1x.