M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy - LRGB - 2024-06-10

M101 is a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major near enough to us (~21 light years) for its spiral structure to be visible in modest telescopes under dark skies. The bright knots visible in its spiral arms are regions of star formation that are rich in ionized HII gas.

 

Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8"

Reducer: 0.7x (1440mm Focal Length)

Camera: QSI 683wsg

Filters: Baader RGB-CCD + UV/IR Cut

Mount: Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO

Integration: 40-50 mins each RGB; 35 mins L (5 min subframes)

Capture Location: Near Goldendale, WA

Processing Software: PixInsight v1.8

 

Done