Image Details: Pinwheel Galaxy

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Pinwheel Galaxy

Object/Name:	(M101, (NGC5457, , PGC 50063; UGC 8981; MCG-9-23-28, IRAS 14013+5435; CGCG 272-21; KARA 610; Arp 26;)	Image Details:
Type:	Spiral Galaxy (Sc)	Luminance:	5.00 min. (22) – 110.00 min. 1x1
Constellation:	Ursa Major	Red:	5.00 min. (15) – 75.00 min. 1x1
RA:	14 hours 03 minutes	Green:	5.00 min. (13) – 65.00 min. 1x1
Dec:	+54 degreees 4 minutes	Blue:	5.00 min. (13) – 65.00 min. 1x1
Distance:	17.5 - 27.0 million light years	Total Time:	315 minutes
Magnitude:	7.9 mag
Size:	28.8 x 26.9 arc minutes
Imaging Dates:	9 June 2103 - 12 June 2013
Location:	Dark Horse Observatory, Kimberton, PA 19460 U.S.A.
Equipment:
Telescope:	Takahashi BRC-250	CCD:	SBIG ST-10XME
Filter wheel:	SBIG CFW-10	Mount:	Astelco NTM-500
Rotator:	None	Focuser:	Finger Lakes Instruments DF2
Filters:	Astrodon Series E
Software Used:
	CCDNavigator 3	Maxim DL
	FocusMax	CCDAutopilot 4
	The Sky 6	CCDStack 2
	PixInsight	Photoshop CS4
	FocusMagic, Topaz Labs - DeNoise and Detail	Ron Wodaski's Gradient Xterminator
	Excalibrator	Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools

Detailed Information:
I decided to try and image this object myself to see how it would look under brighter skies and with a smaller aperture. I was surprised at how nicely it turned out.
Messier 101 (M101, NGC 5457) also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy is a magnitude 8.3 face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major, and is located at a distance of about 27 million light years. It has an apparent size of 28.8x26.9 arc minutes. This object was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. It was cataloged later by Messier on 27 March 1781.
This galaxy is faint and difficult to see except under dark skies. It can be located between the tail of Ursa Major and Boötes. This also happens to be M102 which was a double observation by Messier. So technically you are seeing two Messier objects at once.
The image below is annotated to help you identifiy other objects in the FOV. I apologize for the overlapping labels, but I could not fix them.

SEDS link for additional information: http://messier.seds.org/m/m101.html


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