Bill Richards
Well-Known Member
(I posted an earlier rendition of this subject 2 years ago but with improved equipment and skills, I took another stab at it.)
The Cigar Galaxy (aka M82) is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away. It's about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and its central region is about one hundred times more luminous. It experiences gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbor, Bode's Galaxy (M81), causing it to have an extraordinarily high rate of star formation. Around the galaxy’s center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than inside our entire Milky Way galaxy. Radiation and energetic particles from these newborn stars carve into the surrounding gas, and the resulting galactic wind compresses enough gas to make millions of more stars.
This is the result of 23.5 hours of exposure time taken on 2/12/2024, 3/11/2026, 3/12/2026, and 3/18/2026.
Equipment and Software:
=======================
Mount: 10Micron GM1000HPS w/PoleMaster
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 w/0.7x focal reducer
Auto-Focuser: Rigel Systems nFOCUS
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Filter: AstroHutech NBZ dual-band
Guide Camera: ASI174MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging S/W: NINA
Guiding S/W: PHD2
Image Processing S/W: PixInsight
Exposure Details:
=================
Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
207 x 180s exposures
158 x 300s exposures (with dual-band filter)
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats
#M82 #cigargalaxy #asi2600mc #astronomy #astronomyphotography #astrophotography #cosmos #deepsky #deepskyobject #galaxy #longexposure #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #photography #science #space #spacephotography #stargazing #stars #telescope #universe
The Cigar Galaxy (aka M82) is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away. It's about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and its central region is about one hundred times more luminous. It experiences gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbor, Bode's Galaxy (M81), causing it to have an extraordinarily high rate of star formation. Around the galaxy’s center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than inside our entire Milky Way galaxy. Radiation and energetic particles from these newborn stars carve into the surrounding gas, and the resulting galactic wind compresses enough gas to make millions of more stars.
This is the result of 23.5 hours of exposure time taken on 2/12/2024, 3/11/2026, 3/12/2026, and 3/18/2026.
Equipment and Software:
=======================
Mount: 10Micron GM1000HPS w/PoleMaster
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 w/0.7x focal reducer
Auto-Focuser: Rigel Systems nFOCUS
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Filter: AstroHutech NBZ dual-band
Guide Camera: ASI174MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging S/W: NINA
Guiding S/W: PHD2
Image Processing S/W: PixInsight
Exposure Details:
=================
Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
207 x 180s exposures
158 x 300s exposures (with dual-band filter)
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats
#M82 #cigargalaxy #asi2600mc #astronomy #astronomyphotography #astrophotography #cosmos #deepsky #deepskyobject #galaxy #longexposure #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #photography #science #space #spacephotography #stargazing #stars #telescope #universe
