Messier 81: Bode's Galaxy and Messier 82: the Cigar Galaxy
Date: March 23, 2021
Cosgrove’s Cosmos Catalog ➤#0066
Bode's Galaxy (Messier 81) and the Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82) shot with the ZWO ASI294MC-Pro camera. (click image for full resolution via Astrobin.com)
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About the Target
Messier 81, also known as NGC 3031 and Bode's Galaxy, is a beautiful spiral galaxy located 12 Million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on 31 December 1774, thus the common name of Bode's Galaxy. M81 is the largest galaxy in a group of 34 galaxies, known appropriately enough as the M81 Group.
Messier 82, also known as the NGC 3034 and as the Cigar Galaxy, and is also located 12 million light-years away and is part of the M81 group of galaxies. M82 is an extremely luminous galaxy - being five times brighter than our own Milky Way, and has a core that is 100 times brighter! This is due to intense star formation caused by gravitational perturbations from interactions with M81. M82 is known for its complex network of dusty filaments that extend to the side of the galaxy.
About the Project
Over the past weekend, Rochester experienced something rare - four clear nights in a row! While it is true that the moon did not make for the best time for Astro imaging, I had to take advantage of the rare clears skies and so I had both of my imaging platforms out catching photons every night!
The first image I am ready to share from this series is M81 and M82. I have been wanting to image these two beautiful galaxies for a while now and I finally got my chance!
This particular image is the result of 191 subframes with an exposure of 180 seconds, for a total integration time of just over 9.5 hours. These frames were taken over three nights on the William Optics 132mm FLT Platform. This is one of the first times that I was I able to span three night. It’s rare when we get such a nice string of nights in a row!
I would really like to image this again using narrowband and see if I can get a better mage of the tendrils from M82! - A fun future project…..
The Annotated Image
An annotated image of M81 & M82 created by using Pixinsight’s ImageSolver and AnnotateImage Scripts.
The Location in the Sky
IAU/Sky & Telescope Constellation Man of Ursa Major - with M81 & M82 marked by the yellow arrow.
More Information
Wikipedia: Messier 81
Wikipedia: Messier 82
NASA: Messier 81 Core
The Sky Live: Messier 81
The Sky Live: Messier 82
Capture Details
Light frames
191 x 180 seconds, bin 1x1, unity gain @ -15C.
Total integration of 9.55 hours
Cal Frames
50 Bias exposures
34 Dark exposures
45 Flat Darks
30 Flats were taken each night, each night’s data was calibrated to these flats.
Capture Hardware
Scope: William Optics 132mm FLT F/7 APO
Guide Scope: Sharpstar 61DPHII
Guide Scope Focus Motor: ZWO EAF
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290Mini
Main Scope Focus Motor: Pegasus Astro Focus Cube 2
Field Rotator: Pegasus Astro Falcon
Mount: Ioptron CEM60
Polar Alignment: Ioptron Ipolar integrated alignment cameras
Software
Capture Software: PHD2 Guider, Sequence Generator Pro controller
Image Processing: Deepsky Stacker, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Coffee, extensive processing indecision and second-guessing, and much swearing…..
For Christmas of 2020, my wife gave me a neat little wide field scope - the Sharpstar 61EDPHII! This little scope came with a Reducer/Flattener and would make a great wide field Astrograph. So I thought about how to use it.