Pinwheel Galaxy (M101)

[Bill Richards]

The Pinwheel Galaxy (aka M101) is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years from Earth. It's a large galaxy, with a diameter of 170,000 light-years comprised of about a trillion stars. By comparison, our own Milky Way has a diameter of 100,000-120,000 light-years and has about 200,000 billion stars.

This is the result of over 9 hours of exposure time taken on 4/15/2023, 5/11/2026, and 5/14/2026.

Equipment and Software:
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Mounts: iOption CEM40 w/iPolar and Paramount MX+ Series 6
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 w/0.7x focal reducer and Astro-Physics AP155 6” refractor
Auto-Focuser: Rigel Systems nFOCUS and Optec FT30 Focuslynx
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro and QHY268C
Filter: AstroHutech NBZ dual-band and Radian TriAd Quad
Guide Camera: ASI174MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging Software: NINA
Guiding Software: PHD2
Image Processing Software: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
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Camera Temperature -10C
181 x 180s
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats

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