AP#65 : M101
Name: The "Pinwheel" galaxy
Constellation:Ursa Major
Instrument: 8-inch F5 reflector with sky watcher coma corrector and an ASI 2600 MC (Gain 100 -20C).
Exposure time: A stack of 19 five-minute and 20 three-minute exposures.
Star Chart from Michael Vlasov's Deep sky hunter star atlas available on line https://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html
Magnitude: 7.9
Angular size: 28.8' X 26.9'
M101 is a large spiral galaxy found near the handle of the big dipper asterism. Visually, it has a low surface brightness but photographically, it is a spectacular object and it resembles a child's pinwheel. There are multiple adjacent galaxies in the field of view which are part of the M101 grouping. The most interesting is the peculiar dwarf galaxy, NGC 5474, which is visible to the right in this image.
