Object info

Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy that can be found in the constellation Ursa Major at 27 million light years from Earth.

With a diameter of approximately 170.000 light years, this galaxy is about twice as large as our own Milky Way.

M101 is the brightest galaxy of a small group which consists of approx. 9 galaxies, named the M101 Group. It is not an easy visual target as it has a rather low surface brightness.

Processing

DSLRFocus was used for focusing.
ImagesPlus 2.8 was used to calibrate the light frames with 40 darks and 30 flats. Photoshop CS2 was used for post-processing, levels and curves adjustments.

Comments

Strange star shapes on the left side of this image, probably due to the camera not being correctly placed in the focuser.
Two other background galaxies can be seen in the image as well.

Previous versions

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