M81 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major
| 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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