Kwychang
M101 The Pinwheel galaxy
The pinwheel is a face on spiral galaxy found in the constellation of Ursa major, the great bear. Which is a circumpolar constellation, meaning that it never sets below the horizon in the Northern hemisphere.
21 million light years away and some 170,000 light years in diameter, the galaxy is estimated to contain upwards of one trillion stars. It was first observed by Pierre Méchain on the 21st of March 1781.
M101 is just about visible through a pair of 10x50 binoculars under a dark sky with the right conditions. Though a telescope of 6" and above would be preferable.
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in StarTools & Affinity Photo.
M101 The Pinwheel galaxy
The pinwheel is a face on spiral galaxy found in the constellation of Ursa major, the great bear. Which is a circumpolar constellation, meaning that it never sets below the horizon in the Northern hemisphere.
21 million light years away and some 170,000 light years in diameter, the galaxy is estimated to contain upwards of one trillion stars. It was first observed by Pierre Méchain on the 21st of March 1781.
M101 is just about visible through a pair of 10x50 binoculars under a dark sky with the right conditions. Though a telescope of 6" and above would be preferable.
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed in StarTools & Affinity Photo.