Quick session to capture another target I had on my todo list: M101 – ‘Pinwheel’ Galaxy.
Not the biggest target in the Dwarf 3 FOV, but still an intriguingly formed object to capture.
To start, hereby the plotting via my iOS shortcut leveraging chatGPT:
Angular size used
- 28.8′ × 26.9′ (most widely cited in astronomical catalogs and observing guides).
- On DWARF 3 (2.75″/px, 3840×2160): ≈ 628 × 587 pixels.
The result is a bit smaller, but I only had 28 minutes to gather some light from the target as clouds started to roll in. I initially thought of letting the session run, and let the clouds pass, but as there were some short heavy rain showers prior to my session, I did not want to take the risk. Good call, as it started to rain quite heavily while writing this post. The Windy.com app also nicely notified me in time. Very handy app for all who is into astrophotography or any outdoor activity for that matter!
After all, for a short total exposure like this, the form of the spiral arms are nicely visible. Looking forward to get at least 2 hours of total integration time on this, to see how much detail I can get out of it.
The Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M101, is a grand-design spiral galaxy about 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. With a diameter of roughly 170,000 light-years, it’s nearly twice the size of our Milky Way. Its sweeping spiral arms are packed with glowing nebulae, young blue stars, and regions of active star formation. M101 is famous for its asymmetrical shape, slightly distorted by the gravitational pull of neighboring galaxies. Despite its distance, it shines with a magnitude of about 7.9, making it visible with binoculars under dark skies. Through a telescope or long-exposure imaging, its intricate structure and delicate arms reveal themselves like a cosmic pinwheel frozen in motion.
28 Minutes – 60 seconds – Gain 60 – Astro filter
To endless exploration, starry nights, and a little bit of cosmic nerdiness!
TTG
