Galaxy distances

Patrick J. Madden Mar 10, 2002

Guide 8 is now up and running on my observatory computer. It is able to use my USNO data stars, as well as the RealSky images (I have loaded 16 of the 18 CDs onto the 80 GB hard drive--all but the region around the south celestial pole). Having the USNO as well as the RealSky on the hard drive greatly facilitates obtaining images to compare with the images I have just taken while searching for supernovae. Guide 8 is a wonderful tool!

Sometimes I am curious as to how far away a given galaxy is. There is a tremendous amount of data available when one right-clicks on a galaxy. But I have not seen any distance estimates. I suspect that if I were more astronomically literate, I could take some of the info that Guide provides, and use it to get a "ballpark figure" on the distance. Can anyone out there explain to me if it is possible to determine the approximate distance to a galaxy using the data that Guide supplies? And if it is possible, what are the steps?

Thanks, and clear skies to all!

Pat Madden


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