Galaxy · Ursa Major
M81 / Bode's Galaxy
M81
Image story
What to look for
Look for the warm yellow core and the faint bluish outer spiral arms; the deep field also carries a scattering of Milky Way stars.
A grand-design spiral galaxy with a warm core and faint outer arms drawn out through a long, multi-night capture campaign.
Open original See the full acquisition facts
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Capture lesson
The low-contrast outer arms required a nine-night, 506-frame campaign and careful processing to separate them from the background.
Context source: Archive capture and integration record + galaxy portrait notesCapture recipe
How this frame was made
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro · Filters: NoFilter · 506 x 300s subs · 36h 35m integration
View acquisition record
- Type
- Galaxy
- Catalog
- M81
- Region
- Ursa Major
- Captured
- May 1, 2025
- Image size
- 1200 x 900
- Camera
- ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
- Filters
- NoFilter
- Sub-exposures
- 506 x 300s
- Integration
- 36h 35m
- Software
- PixInsight
- Processing notes
- 506 light frames were captured across nine observing nights; 439 were accepted in the confirmed integration and 67 were rejected.
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