M101 galaxy in Ursa Major
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2014 Mar 23
Canon EOS 5D MkII ISO6400
SkyWatcher 254mm Newtonian, f = 1200mm, f/4.8
HEQ5 mount unguided, 66 x 64s = 70.4 minutes total exposure
2014 Mar 23 at 23:16:40-00:38:17 UT
From Rookhope 54.8
This galaxy, near the end of the handle of the Plough, is about 21 million light years away. We get a good face-on view of it. It is significantly larger than our own Milky Way.
I had been wanting to rephotograph it for quite a while because my previous attempts, when there was a supernova, were severely hampered by clouds.
There are some other interesting things in this field. Is that well-defined blue/green spot above the galaxy a planetary nebula? I need to research that.
Supernova
Three years earlier I had photographed a supernova in this galaxy: see sn2011fe page.