Bode’s and cigar Galaxies and Friends
About 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, you’ll find Bode’s Galaxy (M81), a large spiral galaxy, and is it’s nearby neighbor, the famous Cigar Galaxy. You’ll also see NGC 3077 and NGC 2976, two smaller galaxies that are also in the same area and are thought to be gravitationally linked to M81 and M82.
March 2, 2024
Last night I was able to spend some time imaging the region of interacting galaxies in Ursa Major, predominantly defined by Bode’s and Cigar Galaxies. As you can see, the wide field of view from my current telescope limits the amount of detail I can capture, on these objects, but some day I do plan to add a longer focal length telescope to my arsenal so I can better capture these objects in more detail.
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: Mar. 1, 2024
Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 60x120” (2h)
Integration Time: 2h
Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/30/30
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00