Observation by Martina McGovern: Messier 81 in Ursa Major

Enable overlay
Show stars
Label stars
Show deep sky objects
Label deep sky objects
Show constellation boundaries
Show constellation sticks
Show constellation labels
Show RA/Dec grid

Constellation

Ursa Major

Field centre

RA: 09^h55^m
Dec: +69°04'
Position angle: +78°15'

Field size

0°30' × 0°20'

Equipment

Celestron Edge HD 8” SCT, SkyWatcher HEQ5 PRO
ZWO ASI294MC Pro, main camera
ZWO ASIAir Pro, ZWO EAF (Electronic Automatic Focuser) & Dual-Speed 2-inch Crayford Focuser for SCT’s
ZWO 60mm Guide scope, ZWO ASI120MM mini, Guide camera
Optolong L-Pro Broadband filter, Optolong L-eXtreme dual band filter (Ha & OIII)

Exposure

Approx 5hrs of L-pro data & 40mins L-eXtreme data; 180s & Darks, Flats & Dark flats. Camera settings were Gain 225, cooled to T -15C

Location

Near Cambridge, UK

Target name

Messier 81

Title

Messier 81 in Ursa Major

About this image

Martina comments that she hasn’t had a clear night in so so long – until 22nd November, so she stayed up right through until 6am the next day. She has wanted to try to capture this galaxy image for a while now, and success at last.

From Wikipedia: M81 Bodes Galaxy is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 Million light years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years, in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbours a supermassive black hole), Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers.

Files associated with this observation

wk50_20_m81_mcgovern.jpg (1.7 MB)

Like this image

Andy Wilson, Martin Lewis, Paul Leyland, Richard Miles, Graham Roberts, Graham Winstanley, Jeremy Shears, Janice McClean, Geof Lewis, Alan C Tough, Graeme Coates, Andrew Paterson

Comments

Test User, 2020 Dec 13 - 00:41 UTC

Lovely image!

Martina McGovern

Callum Potter, 2020 Dec 13 - 12:46 UTC

That's a very nice image of M81 - captures the subtlety of the structure in the spiral arms nicely.

Martina McGovern

Martin Lewis, 2020 Dec 13 - 23:37 UTC

Well-deserved POTW Martina

Martina McGovern

Copyright of all images and other observations submitted to the BAA remains with the owner of the work. Reproduction of work by third parties is expressly forbidden without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting images to this online gallery, you grant the BAA permission to reproduce them in any of our publications.

Registered charity no. 210769
Registered company no. 117572
For more information including contact details, click here.

Our privacy policy is here.