Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  NGC 5477  ·  Pinwheel galaxy  ·  SS UMa  ·  TYC3852-1069-1  ·  TYC3852-1108-1  ·  TYC3852-214-1  ·  TYC3852-267-1  ·  TYC3852-301-1  ·  TYC3852-468-1  ·  TYC3852-519-1  ·  TYC3852-521-1  ·  TYC3852-555-1  ·  TYC3852-738-1

Image of the day 03/31/2020

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M101 | The PinWheel Galaxy, Kevin Morefield
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M101 | The PinWheel Galaxy

Image of the day 03/31/2020

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M101 | The PinWheel Galaxy, Kevin Morefield
Powered byPixInsight

M101 | The PinWheel Galaxy

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Description

M101 presents itself fully face-on and that, combined with its large size makes it a treat to image. There are so many details to explore and tease out that it's hard to know where to stop.

This was processed twice, once with PI and one with CCDStack/PS. The PI version benefited from HDRMT and DBE and the CCDStack version had a warmer color balance that brought out the dark lanes nicely. I blended them 50/50 in Photoshop with the background being mostly from PI.

Ha was added to the blend. I shot OIII as well, but not enough to use without a large noise increase.

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M101 | The PinWheel Galaxy, Kevin Morefield