SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Rod Pommier
Location of Photo:
Pommier Observatory, Portland, OR, USA
Date/Time of photo:
2024-03-15 through 2-24-03-18
Equipment:
PlaneWave CDK17 on L500 mount, SBIG STL 11000 CCD camera with Baader Planetarium H-alpha, L, R, G, and B filters
Description:
Messier 81, also known as Bode's Galaxy, is a class Sb spiral galaxy lying 11.7 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. Despite its classic spiral appearance, it contains hints of a "recent" (in cosmological terms) disruptive interaction with another galaxy: namely, the three parallel, nearly straight dust lanes visible just to the left of the nucleus. The responsible interaction likely occurred with neighboring galaxy Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, which came out of the interaction far more disrupted than Messier 81. The irregular dwarf satellite galaxy Holmberg IX is visible to the lower right of Messier 81. It is analogous to one of our Magellanic clouds. Exposures: Ha:L:R:G:B =135:400:90:90:85 minutes = 13 hours, 20 minutes total exposure at f/6.8.
