Kwychang
Messier 101
Also known as the Pinwheel galaxy.
At about 170,000 light years across, it's roughly 70% bigger than our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Lying some 25 million light years away, the Pinwheel galaxy is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars. Look for it in the constellation of Ursa Major ( the great bear ).
Pierre Méchain, Charles Messier's assistant, is credited with discovering M101 in 1781.
BORING techie bit:
Captured using a Skywatcher Quattro 8" with f4 coma corrector on a HEQ5 mount.
Guided using an Altair 50mm guidescope and GPcam combo.
Canon 450D astro modified with Astronomik CLS CCD APS-C clip in filter.
18 exposures of 5 minutes at ISO 400 combined with calibration frames. Stacked with DSS and all processing done with StarTools.
Messier 101
Also known as the Pinwheel galaxy.
At about 170,000 light years across, it's roughly 70% bigger than our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Lying some 25 million light years away, the Pinwheel galaxy is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars. Look for it in the constellation of Ursa Major ( the great bear ).
Pierre Méchain, Charles Messier's assistant, is credited with discovering M101 in 1781.
BORING techie bit:
Captured using a Skywatcher Quattro 8" with f4 coma corrector on a HEQ5 mount.
Guided using an Altair 50mm guidescope and GPcam combo.
Canon 450D astro modified with Astronomik CLS CCD APS-C clip in filter.
18 exposures of 5 minutes at ISO 400 combined with calibration frames. Stacked with DSS and all processing done with StarTools.