M81 in good seeing

[MarkS]

Here is the first stage of a work in progress.  M81 (Bode's Galaxy) taken last week in unusually good seeing conditions for the UK i.e. the atmosphere had very little turbulence to blur the fine detail.



This is 600 x 30sec exposures making a total of 5 hours.  Modified Sony A7S on Celestron C11 with Starizona LF 0.72x Corrector.  Most of the data comes from 24/25/26 April.

To appreciate the detail you really need to see the full scale version: http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2020/m81_20200424_v1.jpg but note this is a crop of the whole field of view.

I have another 10 hours of data but the sharpest exposures were deliberately selected for the image above.  The additional 10 hours will allow me to show Holmberg IX and part of the IFN (integrated flux nebula) in the vicinity.

The galaxy core is a bit burnt out in this first version but I'm pretty sure that highlight recovery will fix that.

Mark

[ApophisAstros]

Wow , supreme detail in that full scale version, cracking.
Roger

[Carole]

Great work so far Mark, I look forward to seeing the next stage/s.

Carole

[The Thing]

Very nice Mark. Can't wait to see the ten hour version.

[NoelC]

Terrific Mark
The stars are almost perfect (not to mention the galaxy).
Well done.
Noel

[Roberto]

Superb detail in that shot Mark 

Roberto