The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major, is 21 million light-years from earth, and has a diameter of 170,000 light-years, about 1.5 times the diameter of our Milky Way Galaxy. Numerous galaxies surround M101, some of which are visible in this cropped image.
M101 has over a thousand HII regions (red in the photograph) some of which are ionized by hot young stars that create ‘superbubbles’ -- cavities hundreds of light-years across that contain extremely hot gases. Three HII regions in M101 are very prominent and have their own designations: NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471.
Image capture on 3/30/23
Askar 107PHQ
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
ZWO AM5 mount with guiding via ASIAir Plus using an ASI178mm mini and a 60mm F4 guide scope
Light Frames [Total Exposure 4:40]
- Antlia RGB Triband Ultra filter -- 600s x 22 frames. . . . . . . . . . . . . .[Total Exposure 3:40]
- No filter (UV/IR cut filter only from ASI2600MC) -- 180s x 20 frames [Total Exposure 1:00]
All light frames calibrated with dark, flat, and bias frames
Pre- and post-processed in PixInsight
Additional post-processing in Photoshop for generation of jpeg (for reduced file size)
The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major, is 21 million light-years from earth, and has a diameter of 170,000 light-years, about 1.5 times the diameter of our Milky Way Galaxy. Numerous galaxies surround M101, some of which are visible in this cropped image.
M101 has over a thousand HII regions (red in the photograph) some of which are ionized by hot young stars that create ‘superbubbles’ -- cavities hundreds of light-years across that contain extremely hot gases. Three HII regions in M101 are very prominent and have their own designations: NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471.
Image capture on 3/30/23
Askar 107PHQ
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
ZWO AM5 mount with guiding via ASIAir Plus using an ASI178mm mini and a 60mm F4 guide scope
Light Frames [Total Exposure 4:40]
- Antlia RGB Triband Ultra filter -- 600s x 22 frames. . . . . . . . . . . . . .[Total Exposure 3:40]
- No filter (UV/IR cut filter only from ASI2600MC) -- 180s x 20 frames [Total Exposure 1:00]All light frames calibrated with dark, flat, and bias frames
Pre- and post-processed in PixInsight
Additional post-processing in Photoshop for generation of jpeg (for reduced file size)
Hi Greg, beautiful image. Surprised I didn’t get notified of this post either. I need to ask our webmasters why I don’t see notifications when I believe I am signed up for all new postings. In any case, beautiful M101 with nice color and detail to the core!!
Terri
