M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy
Sun May 21 2023
The Pinwheel Galaxy, Messier 101, is a big, beautiful face-on spiral. This image is extra special because it also captured supernova 2023ixf, a star seen exploding in the galaxy in May 2023. I began imaging just before it appeared and finished afterward, so the exploding star shows up in the final picture. M101 is a sprawling spiral considerably larger than our own Milky Way.
About this object
- Type
- Galaxy
- Constellation
- Ursa Major (the Great Bear)
- Distance
- ~21 million light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 7.9
- Apparent size
- 24.0′ × 23.1′
- Also known as
- Pinwheel Galaxy
- Catalogue designations
- M 101, NGC 5457
Acquisition
- Antlia V-Pro Luminance 31 mm: 653 × 30s (5h 26m 30s)
- Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm: 174 × 1m (2h 54m)
- Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm: 173 × 1m (2h 53m)
- Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm: 175 × 1m (2h 55m)
- Total integration: 14h 8m 30s
Equipment
- Telescope / Lens: Celestron C8
- Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
- Mount: Celestron CGEM II
- Filters: Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Luminance 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm
- Guiding scope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
- Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224MC
- Accessories: Celestron 0.63X SCT Reducer (94175), ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25″ / 31mm
- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.