the.cosmic.arena
The Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the most spectacular sights when observing the night sky. Located at about 31 million years from us, it is a grand design spiral galaxy interacting with another one, in a slow dance by which both will merge within several million years. As a result of this, tidal streams of stars are swirling around, here seen as the faint light patch around. The Whirlpool Galaxy has lots of star formation areas - the bluish areas reveal the presence of young and hot stars.
Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal on the 29th and 30th of April, 2022 and at Barcarena, Portugal on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of January 2023.
Technical details:
LUM: 172 x 180’’ (8h36)
RGB: 120 x 180’’ (6h00)
Ha: 119 x 300’’ (9h55)
Total integration: 24h31
SW EQ6-R Pro | TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268M | Optolong LRGB |Astronomik Ha 6nm | RBFocus Gaius-S | RBFocus Myrrdin 2.3
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. |
Processing: Pixinsight
The Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the most spectacular sights when observing the night sky. Located at about 31 million years from us, it is a grand design spiral galaxy interacting with another one, in a slow dance by which both will merge within several million years. As a result of this, tidal streams of stars are swirling around, here seen as the faint light patch around. The Whirlpool Galaxy has lots of star formation areas - the bluish areas reveal the presence of young and hot stars.
Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal on the 29th and 30th of April, 2022 and at Barcarena, Portugal on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of January 2023.
Technical details:
LUM: 172 x 180’’ (8h36)
RGB: 120 x 180’’ (6h00)
Ha: 119 x 300’’ (9h55)
Total integration: 24h31
SW EQ6-R Pro | TS Optics Triplet APO 800/115 | TS Optics TSFLAT2 0.79x | QHYCCD 268M | Optolong LRGB |Astronomik Ha 6nm | RBFocus Gaius-S | RBFocus Myrrdin 2.3
Acquisition: N.I.N.A. |
Processing: Pixinsight