M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

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menardre
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M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

Unread post by menardre »

I tried to image M101 last night. The Pinwheel galaxy is a great example of a spiral galaxy face-on. It is about 21 million light years away. I selected M101 since it is in Ursa Major and far away from the Moon. It is also large but rather dim. Sky was fairly bright. I was able to capture 25 images of 4 minutes each before clouds rolled in. I really wanted to capture 60 images, but that was not to be. This is the first time taking longer exposures with the CEM120/SXV130 combination. I used ZWO ASI 071 and set temp to -20C. Lodestar was used as autoguider on my 90mm refractor. Fairly minimal image processing using Images Plus.
You can also see the galaxies NGC 5474 (to the right) and NGC 5473 (small galaxy below M101).

Roger

M101 process-1.jpg
M101 process-1.jpg (6.49 MiB) Viewed 1295 times
Roger M.
Celestron CPC1100 EDGE, Stellarvue 130T refractor dual mounted on iOptron CEM120 on permanent pier mounted in Observatory. Imaging camera ZWO ASI2600 OSC, guide camera Lodestar or ZWO ASI290MM.
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DonB
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Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:16 pm

Re: M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

Unread post by DonB »

Very nicely done. Superb image. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Don
"When I was 18, my father was the dumbest man I ever knew.
When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years."
--- Mark Twain

Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor
Celestron 8
Explore Scientific 80 Triplet
Explore Scientific 102 Triplet
Orion 8" Astrograph
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NGC7000
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Re: M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

Unread post by NGC7000 »

Very nice, Roger. Great that you got out before the clouds rolled in to capture this very nice image.

Tom
Tom H
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
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