Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5477
M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans
M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy
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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)
M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans
M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)

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Description

The Pinwheel galaxy (M101, NGC5457) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It is about 21 million light years away from Earth and was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 - he communicated this to Charles Messier who verified and included the object in his catalogue.

Due to its face-on orientation, it is not an easy target to observe visually (even with bigger telescopes), unless you are in darker areas.

M101 is asymmetrical due to the tidal forces from interactions with its companion galaxies. These gravitational interactions compress interstellar hydrogen gas, which then triggers strong star formation activity in M101's spiral arms.

Ref: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy)

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Revisions

  • M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans
    Original
  • M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans
    B
  • Final
    M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans
    C

B

Description: Added again 20 subs of 300 sec each - made a big mistake in not reframing my camera in the right position, so I had to crop a lot! Not a mistake I will make second time!

I do like the more natural coloring on this version

Uploaded: ...

C

Description: New version based on additional set of subs. I ditched the original set still taken at 0°C and replaced by about 65 subs at -10°C. I'm OK now with the result, up to the next one!

Uploaded: ...

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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Hans Kelgtermans

In these collections

Messier Catalog