|
Messier 81 |
Spiral Galaxy
in the Constellation Ursa Major
|
(Image information courtesy
of Wikipedia):
Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a
grand design spiral galaxy
about 12 million light-years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years, which
makes it only slightly smaller than our own Milky Way galaxy. M81 is
located in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to
our galaxy,
its large size, and active galactic nucleus
(which harbors a 70 million
M☉[5]
supermassive black hole),
Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers.
The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular
target for amateur astronomers.
In this image, multiple smaller
galaxies are visible, including some PGC very remote galaxies, as well as two
dwarf galaxies in orbit around and gravitationally bound to M81 (the small,
faint "smudges" just to the left of the main spiral and at bottom center of
image). It is estimated that M81 contains at least 210 Globular Clusters.
Image
Details:
-
- Instrument:
Stellarvue SV130EDT Triplet APO Refractor @ f/7(905mm) focal length, with
Teleskop Service
TS 2,5 Field Flattener lens.
- Mount:
Rainbow Astro RST-135 Mount in EQ Mode
R
- Image Scale: 1.08
arc-seconds/pixel
- Camera:
ASI071MC Pro Color Cooled One-Shot Camera with
Lumicon IR/Cutoff Filter
- Guide and Imaging
Interface: ASI290MM guide camera
and ZWO Off-Axis Guider, ASIAir Plus Controller, ZWO EAF Auto-Focuser.
- Filters & Exposure
Times:
RAW format 16-bit
Light
frames. IR/Cutoff filter was
used: 230 sub-frames x 3 minutes each, binned 1x1 for a total
exposure time of 11.5 hours.
- Processing software:
PPixInsight, using a combination of the
ChaoticNebula.com and
Adam Block
workflows.
- Location: Little
Rock, AR., El. 537ft
- Date:
Image Acquisition January 30th-February 4th, 2022
© Wade Van Arsdale
2/07/2022
Earlier Version From 2008
Image
Details:
-
- Instrument:
TMB 152 Triplet APO Refractor @ f/7.9 (1200mm) focal length
- Mount: AP-1200GTO
- Image Scale: 1.6
arc-seconds/pixel after processing
- Filters & Exposure
Times:
- L:
18 x 5 minutes binned 1x1
- R:
18 x 5 minutes binned 2x2
G:
9 x 5 minutes binned 2x2
B:
9 x 5 minutes binned 2x2
- Camera: SBIG
ST-2000XM, CF8WA Color Filter Wheel, AO-8 Adaptive Optics
- Software: Maxim
DL/CCD, Adobe Photoshop, RC Astro Gradient X-Terminator, Neat Image Pro
- Location: Little
Rock, AR., El. 650ft
- Date: June
22nd, 2008
