L 9 x 600 sec 1x1 bin, RGB 4ea x 300 sec 2x2 bin

NGC 5746 is a beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy resembling the better known NGC 4565 Needle Galaxy in Coma Berenices. Lying at a distance of approximately 90 million light years from earth, this galaxy spans nearly 200,000 light years along its major axis. Spectroscopic based rotation curve studies conducted on this galaxy and similar edge-on galaxies reveal a "flat" characteristic with a relatively constant rotational velocity from the core outward to the ends of the spiral arms. This flat curve hints at non-baryonic or dark matter whose gravitational contribution would result in the shared characteristic observed in these edge-on galaxies. The dark matter needed to obtain a flat rotational curve can be up to ten times the mass of all the visible matter in the galaxy.

This image was the result of a collaborative effort between Dave Jurasevich and David Held , sharing data acquisition and processing tasks.