M-81 and M-82, Bode's and the starburst

click the image for a larger view, or HERE for the index
m8182es127c24x10m800qrtr

These two galaxies are located in the constellation Ursa Major, the big dipper. M82 on the right is called a starburst galaxy with lots of new star formation in the jets of hydrogen (red). They are part of the Messier 81 Group that contains 34 galaxies that are moving together. With our local group are part of the Virgo supercluster.

Telescope

Explore Scientific 127mm, f7.5, ED apo with carbon fiber tube and AT2FF flattener. Mounted piggyback on a Meade LX200 classic 12-inch SCT

Camera

Canon XT/350d modified with Baader type 1 filter by Hap Griffin

Exposure

24 ten-minute sub exposures at iso 800, captured RAW. Acquired on December 29th, 2011 at my Julian, CA observatory.

Guiding

Modified 10 x 50 finder scope with Meade DSI pro I controlled by PHD Guiding from Stark Labs

Processing

Images acquired, calibrated, stacked, and color corrected in Nebulosity 2.2.7 from Stark Labs. Further processing in Photoshop CS3 including masked Curves, Noise Ninja, Carboni's Actions, and GradientEXterminator. I added some post processing that included the LAB method of increasing saturation, and fine tuned the color channel alignment at the end. .