Skies By Africa

Images of the Heavens By Eric Africa

M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy
M101
M101 is also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. While I personally first heard of M33 being called the Pinwheel, I definitely see the pinwheel shape more dramatically in M101 than in M33.
 
Constellation: Ursa Major
When Visible: February - May
Distance: 27 Million Light-years
Date: Six nights from April through May 2014
Location: Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico
Exposure Details:
L: 58 x 10 Minutes binned 1x1
R: 23 x 10 Minutes binned 1x1
G: 23 x 10 Minutes binned 1x1
B: 23 x 10 Minutes binned 1x1

21 hours and 10 minutes' total exposure
 
Equipment Used: 12.5" PlaneWave CDK on a Software Bisque Paramount ME mount. SBIG STL-6303 camera with 5-position filter wheel and Astrodon LRGB filters
 
Acquisition Software : MaximDL 5, CCDAutopilot 5
Processing Software: MaximDL, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Carboni Tools, IrFanView, Noise Ninja
 
Above image was updated October 12, 2014. Original 2014 version can be seen here.

An earlier version shot in 2006 can be seen der-Q on a Takahashi EM200 Temma 2 mount. SBIG ST-8XE camera with CFW-8a filter wheel and Astrodon LRGB filters.

A 2011 version can be seen here. 61x10 Minutes Luminance and 18x10 minutes each RGB, all binned 1x1. Takahashi TOA-130F on an Astro-Physics AP1200GTO mount. SBIG STL-6303E camera with FW8-STL filter wheel and Astrodon LRGB and narrowband filters. Robofocus focuser and Astrodon Takometer rotator.