<![CDATA[ScienceDownEast - ScienceDownEast Astrophotography - M101 Pinwheel Galaxy (Latest images)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:29:50 -0300 Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:29:50 -0300 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Zenphoto RSS Generator <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101-a.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to resolve the delicate spiral structure and pink-tinged star-forming knots strung along its arms against a relatively faint overall surface brightness.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy]

CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-06-23
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration (x3)
Background Neutralization
Automatic Background Extraction
Dynamic Background Extraction
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x4)
Curves Transformation
PixelMath

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101-a.jpg Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to resolve the delicate spiral structure and pink-tinged star-forming knots strung along its arms against a relatively faint overall surface brightness.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy]

CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-06-22
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration (x3)
Background Neutralization
Automatic Background Extraction
Dynamic Background Extraction
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x4)
Curves Transformation
PixelMath

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101.jpg Sun, 22 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101-b.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to resolve the delicate spiral structure and pink-tinged star-forming knots strung along its arms against a relatively faint overall surface brightness.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy]

CameraToupTek ATR2600C
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet)
Date2025-06-23
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration (x3)
Background Neutralization
Automatic Background Extraction
Dynamic Background Extraction
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x4)
Curves Transformation
PixelMath

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101-b.jpg Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-30.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x_MAS.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to...

Moon PhaseFirst Quarter
CameraSeestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)
Optics160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)
FilterIRCUT
Binning1x1
Date2026-03-24
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration
Drizzle Integration
Dynamic Crop
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
GraXpert (gradient removal)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) (x2)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
StarXTerminator (star removal)
Multiscale Median Transform
Curves Transformation
PixelMath

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN-1_2160x3840_EXPOSURE-30.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x_MAS.jpg Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M+101_MAS.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to resolve the delicate spiral structure and pink-tinged star-forming knots strung along its arms against a relatively faint overall surface brightness.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy]

Moon PhaseFirst Quarter
CameraSeestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor)
Optics160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet)
Date2026-03-24
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration (x2)
Drizzle Integration
Channel Combination
Background Neutralization
Dynamic Background Extraction
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
Dynamic Crop
StarXTerminator (star removal)
Multiscale Linear Transform
PixelMath

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M+101_MAS.jpg Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-30.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x_MAS.jpg M101Click on the image to view it at full resolution, then click again for actual size.

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a large, face-on “grand design” spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, cataloged as NGC 5457. Distance estimates generally cluster around 21-25 million light-years, and at that distance its roughly 170,000-light-year diameter makes it noticeably larger than the Milky Way. Gravitational interactions with several smaller companion galaxies have given its spiral arms an asymmetric, slightly lopsided structure, and its arms are richly dotted with star-forming HII regions. M101 has hosted several observed supernovae, including the well-studied SN 2011fe. For astrophotographers it is a favorite luminance/RGB target, rewarding long integration time to resolve the delicate spiral structure and pink-tinged star-forming knots strung along its arms against a relatively faint overall surface brightness.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy]

Total image time was 20 minutes.

Moon PhaseFirst Quarter
CameraSeestar S30
Optics150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet)
FilterIRCUT
Binning1x1
Date2026-03-24
PixInsight Processing
Image Integration
Drizzle Integration
BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
Dynamic Crop
GraXpert (gradient removal)
Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
Multiscale Median Transform
Curves Transformation
Fast Rotation

Date: July 28, 2026 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN-1_1080x1920_EXPOSURE-30.00s_FILTER-IRCUT_RGB_drizzle_2x_MAS.jpg Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 Unfiltered (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101_b.jpg M101 Unfiltered
The Pinwheel Galaxy M101 as seen from my backyard. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 252,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of 87,400 light-years. It has around a trillion stars. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

The next image shows annotated view of its location.

Exposure47 x 600 sec = 7.83 hours
Gain100
CameraToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120mm
FilterNone
CaptureKStars on Unbuntu 24.04 on a Mele Quieter 4C
LocationLower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date2025-06-25,27
ProcessingProcessed in PixInsight.
SetiAstro Automatic DBE, SpectrophotometricColourCalibration, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS) (using Blair MacDonald's excellent YT Tutorial), StarXTerminator, PixelMath recombination ~((~stars)*(~starless)), Annotate Image

Date: June 29, 2025 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101_b.jpg Sun, 29 Jun 2025 17:55:00 -0300 <![CDATA[M101 Unfiltered - annotated (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101_b_annotated_1751148466.jpg M101 Unfiltered - annotated
The Pinwheel Galaxy M101 (or NGC 5457) as seen from my backyard. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 252,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of 87,400 light-years. It has around a trillion stars. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

The next image shows annotated view of its location.

Exposure47 x 600 sec = 7.83 hours
Gain100
CameraToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120mm
FilterNone
CaptureKStars on Unbuntu 24.04 on a Mele Quieter 4C
LocationLower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date2025-06-25,27
ProcessingProcessed in PixInsight.
SetiAstro Automatic DBE, SpectrophotometricColourCalibration, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS) (using Blair MacDonald's excellent YT Tutorial), StarXTerminator, PixelMath recombination ~((~stars)*(~starless)), Annotate Image

Date: June 28, 2025 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=M101_b_annotated_1751148466.jpg Sat, 28 Jun 2025 19:07:46 -0300 <![CDATA[Supernova 2023ixf in M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN_1_8256x5504_EXPOSURE_180_00s_FILTER_Luminance_combined_RGB_autocrop_GraXpert.jpg Supernova 2023ixf in M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy
Supernova 2023ixf lights up the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 as seen from my backyard.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

The next image shows annotated view of its location.

Exposure94x180 sec = 4.7 hours
ISO3200
CameraNikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120mm
FilterNone
CaptureKStars on an Odroid-N2
LocationLower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date2023-05-22
ProcessingProcessed in PixInsight and GraXpert.

Date: March 26, 2025 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN_1_8256x5504_EXPOSURE_180_00s_FILTER_Luminance_combined_RGB_autocrop_GraXpert.jpg Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:04 -0300 <![CDATA[Supernova 2023ixf in M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy Annotated (M101 Pinwheel Galaxy)]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN_1_8256x5504_EXPOSURE_180_00s_FILTER_Luminance_combined_RGB_autocrop_GraXpert_Annotated.jpg Supernova 2023ixf in M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy Annotated
Supernova 2023ixf lights up the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 as seen from my backyard.

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Exposure94x180 sec = 4.7 hours
ISO3200
CameraNikon Z7 [8856 x 5504]
OpticsSkywatcher Esprit 120mm
FilterNone
CaptureKStars on an Odroid-N2
LocationLower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date2023-05-22
ProcessingProcessed in PixInsight, GraXpert and Preview

Date: March 26, 2025 ]]> https://www.sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Galaxies/M101&image=masterLight_BIN_1_8256x5504_EXPOSURE_180_00s_FILTER_Luminance_combined_RGB_autocrop_GraXpert_Annotated.jpg Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:04 -0300