Date: 4/12/2012
Target: M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy
Telescope: Orion 8" f/4.9
Camera: ST-8300M
Filters: Baader LRGB
Exposures: LRGB = 150:60:60:60 minutes
Framing: North is up
Location: Mocksville, NC
Seeing: 3/5
Transparency: 4/5
FWHM: 3.9
Start Time: 9:30PM
End Time: 3:00AM
Captured with Nebulosity, stacked using DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop.
From
Wikipedia.org:
The
Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as
Messier 51a,
M51a, or
NGC 5194) is an
interacting grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million
light-years in the
constellation Canes Venatici. It is one of the most famous galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion (
NGC 5195) are easily observed by
amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with
binoculars.The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professionalastronomers, who study it to further understanding of galaxy structure(particularly structure associated with the
spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.