M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy
About 25 million light-years away is M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. At 170,000 light-years across, it is early twice the diameter of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. M101 is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars and its spiral arms are filled with large regions of star-forming nebulas.
May 18, 2024
We haven't had a ton of great nights for imaging lately, so even though this target is tiny for my Redcat, I figured I'd have a go to make sure I haven't forgotten how to do this. Overall I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out, however, I've been looking into longer FL scopes, so perhaps I can revisit this target in the future with more resolving power!
Technical Details
Imaging Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 II
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Filter: Antlia Tri-band RGB Ultra Filter - 2” Mounted
Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO Filter Drawer (Gen 2)
Software: Siril, Starnet, Photoshop, NoiseXterminator
Guiding Telescope: William Optics UniGuide 32
Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI174MM
Imaging Dates: May 17, 2024
Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 100x180” (5h)
Integration Time: 5h
Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/25/30
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00