| M81 is a
spiral galaxy that is located approximately 12 million light years
away, in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is also known as Bode's
Galaxy as Johan Bode reportedly discovered it in 1774. Pierre Mechain
and Charles Messier re-identified it in 1779 and placed it in Messier's
catalog of deep-sky objects. It has a very active core that is believed
to contain a super-massive black hole. |
| Telescope: |
Explore
Scientific ED152CF w/Hotech field flattener |
| Camera: |
Modified Canon 4Ti (650D); Raw
capture; ISO 1600 |
| Mount: |
Losmandy G11 w/ Gemini |
| Guiding: |
SSAG on Takumar 200/3.5 lens |
| Exposures: |
17 @ 5 min.
|
| Processing: |
Image was focused using
camera Live View. Subframes were converted using Canon Digital Professional
and reduced in Photoshop. They were then aligned and combined using
ImagesPlus. Final image was adjusted in Photoshop. Noise was reduced
using Topaz DeNoise.
|
| Note: |
This is the first image with the
ED152. Shot from
my backyard observatory in southeastern Minnesota on 4/4/13. Temp:
32F |
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