Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's nebulae  ·  M 81  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 3031  ·  NGC 3034
M81 & M82, Tingting44
M81 & M82
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M81 & M82

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Description

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. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size and active galactic nucleus (which harbors a 70 million M☉[8] supermassive black hole), Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also make it a popular target for amateur astronomers

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is about five times more luminous than the whole Milky Way and one hundred times more luminous than our galaxy's center.[6] The starburst activity is thought to be triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81, and M82 is a member of the M81 Group. As the closest starburst galaxy to our own, M82 is the prototypical example of this type of galaxy.[6] SN 2014J, a Type Ia supernova, was observed in the galaxy on 21 January 2014.[7][8][9] In 2014, in studying M82, scientists discovered the brightest pulsar yet known, designated M82 X-2

Hi all, this is my 1st process of M81 & M82, i cant ever seem to get to a place where i am happy with my images, im way too fussy, i know what i want to do, just my Pixinsight skills are not up to what i need to do, and i try to over think things in processing which really seems to bog me down, any way this is my 1st process of this target......

This was taken at Turf Hill on Saturday 21st Feb, it was a good night collecting the photons, how ever i had quite a few problems lol, but hey ho it would not be astro imaging if there were no problems lol

I ended up with...

16 x 10min light subs @ ISO800

50 flats ISO800

50 darks ISO800 (taken from darks library to match light temps)

140 bias ISO800

the gear i captured this shot with are....

Canon 7D

SW 130-pds with SW coma corrector and Baader neo LP filter

HEQ5

guided with QHY5L-ii & PHD

and all processing & stacking done in Pixinsight

it also looks like ive clipped the background, but there were 100% no clipped pixels....

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M81 & M82, Tingting44