M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy (aka Galaxy 9), has been giving me grief this year. I’ve tried to image it a few times but something happened each time. Finally, Thursday night I was able to get a decent image. This is made from 44 two minute images with my C11 at f/6.3 with an Antlia Quadband light pollution filter and my ZWO ASI294MC Pro. I started with 51 images but seven of them had satellite trails in them.
My friend Ryan Carroll did a much better job this weekend but was not the only one looking at this.
Better known as M51 or the Whirlpool Galaxy, Galaxy 9 is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is 23.5 million light-years away and 76,900 light-years in diameter. This image is made from 61 60 second images shot with an 11″ SCT at f/6.3. The evening was problematic and I need to try it again when the Moon gets out of the way. Shot at the River Ridge Observatory.
Every year or two, I try to image Barnard’s Loop in Orion with a DSLR. This year, I used an 85mm prime lens at f/3, my full spectrum modified Canon T5i, and an Antlia Triband RGB Ultra filter to reduce light pollution and enhance the reds that are prominent here. This was made from a stack of 74 two minute images. The three bright stars that start near the middle and point roughly to 2 o’clock are three stars of the Belt of Orion while the big bright nebula toward 5 o’clock is the Orion Nebula. The big red arc on the left is Barnard’s Loop, named after it’s discoverer, E.E. Barnard. All of the nebulosity seen here is part of the Orion molecular cloud complex.
