M101 – The Pinwheel Galaxy

It's finally done! This is my longest integration project yet and I wanted to make sure that I processed it very carefully. My goal when I first set out to capture M101 this year was to reveal the faint spiral arms visible in the bottom of this image... and I think I succeeded in that goal! As usual, I had some difficulties processing this image (this time, overexposed flats messed up the colors of the image), but despite that, I'm pleased with the signal that I was able to record with a stock DSLR. I'm certainly looking forward to imaging this galaxy again with a cooled mono camera in the future. This galaxy is about 23 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). I hope y'all enjoy :)

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Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

 

Subs from 4/2,4,5/2021

130 x 300s lights @ ISO 200

No Darks

60 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 10.83 hrs

Done