A grand design spiral galaxy in Ursa Major.

Details

• Rig: Player One Ares-M Pro + Tecnosky RC8 + EQ6R-Pro
• Software: NINA/PixInsight
• Filters: Astronomik LRGB
• Constellation: Ursa Major

Notes

    Integration time (running total):
    * H 18 X 300s (90m)
    * L 30 X 120s (60m)
    * R 29 X 120s (58m)
    * G 36 X 120s (72m)
    * B 38 X 120s (76m)
    * Total: 5h56m

Bode’s Galaxy lies at a distance of ~12 million light-years. It is a bright galaxy which I have recently managed to observe visually from the city (Bortle 6/7). Other galaxies in the region such as M51 and M101 are much harder to locate. Messier 81 is also relatively large (apparent size 26.9′ × 14.1’) and in this image little cropping from the native resolution of 3008 px square has been done. Consequently, much greater resolution is achieved cmpared to the same target and camera in the 900mm Newtonian.

The stars from this were removed in processing resulting in the galaxy becaming more interesting and more visible without them (though perhaps less realistic). The exposure time includes 90m of Hydrogen Alpha to bring out the star-forming regions.