Date: 2/19/2010
Target: M81, Bode's Galaxy and M82, Cigar Galaxy
Telescope: Orion 8" f/4.9 w/Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Camera: Canon 40D (modified)
Filter: None
Exposures: 50x240s (3.3h) @ ISO1600
Framing: North is left
Start Temp: 28F
End Temp: 21F
Location: Mocksville, NC
Seeing: 3/5
Transparency: 4/5
Guiding (RMS/Osc): 0.19/0.43
Start Time: 10:00PM
End Time: 3:00AM
Captured using Nebulosity, stacked using DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop.

This is a crop from the M81/M82 Widefield.


Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. M81 is one of the most striking examples of a grand design spiral galaxy, with near perfect arms spiraling into the very center. Because of its proximity to Earth, its large size, and its active galactic nucleus (which harbors a supermassive black hole) Messier 81 is a popular galaxy to study in professional astronomy research. The galaxy's large size and relatively low apparent magnitude (lower magnitude implies higher brightness) also make it a popular target for amateur astronomy observations.