OJ 287

2009 Mar 19, Vantaa

Canon 300D

TMB80 refractor at f/6

32 x 30 s at ISO 800

Processed with Iris

Image width is about about 23' .

OJ 287 is a very distant quasar, according to Wikipedia about 3500 million light years from our galaxy.

Photons from the quasar were detected by the camera as a very dim spot of light that can be identified in the image with the help of the finding chart (by British Astronomical Association Variable Star Section) on the left. As can be seen from the chart, a couple of other weak spots represent galaxies IC2422 and IC2423. The rest of the light spots are stars in our own galaxy, belonging to the constellation Cancer. (Here, South is up and West is left, because of the orientation of the finding chart).