The Northern Pinwheel Galaxy... M 101
(Click on Picture for larger view)
This galaxy is also known as Messier 101. The galaxy is high in the NE at midnight in early March near the Big Dipper in the constellation of Ursa Major. I took this with the Celestron 11" telescope at f/7 (using the 0.7x reducer). It is about 22 million light-years away. This large galaxy contains over a trillion stars! In comparison, our Milky Way Galaxy has about 250 billion stars. This is a 4hr 50mn exposure taken between midnight and 3 am on the nights of Mar 6 & 7 (Actually the morning of 7 & 8). Part of a 1hr 50mn exposure with no filter and a 3hr exposure with the Quadband filter. The moon was nearly full and interfered quite a bit.
That 'Techy' Stuf
Telescope: 11" Celestron Edge HD at f/7
Mount: Celestron CGX
Mount setting and alignment via Celestron PWI software
Rig to Indoor Computer Connection: USB 2 196 feet Extender via cat 6 cable
System Alignment: Celestron StarSense
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c Pro TEC
Binning: 2x2
Sensor Temp: -15°C (5°F)
Filter: None & Altair Quad-narrow band
Settings: Gain: 450(No filter) 1500(filter)
58 Sub-Frames at 300sec ea
Calibration Frames: 24 Darks, 50 Flats for each set
Guiding: Orion Digital StarShoot Mono camera & 60mm Altair Scope
Guiding Software: PHD2 V2.6.7
Capture Software: SharpCap Pro
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker @ 2x Drizzle
Post processing in PixInsight & Photoshop CC
Focus Controller: Celestron Auto Focuser
Light Pollution: Bortle zone 4.5 (Barely can see the Milky Way)
Sky Condition: 10 (0-10 with 10 the clearest possible)
Lunar Interference: 88% & 95% illuminated Moon.
Temperature: 48°F (2.8°C)
Date: March 7 & 8 (morning), 2020
Location: My Backyard, Savannah, GA
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