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Object Information
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Name: |
M51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy) |
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Type: |
Spiral Galaxy |
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Description: |
Individually referred to as M51A (NGC 5194) and M51B
(NGC 5195) are perhaps the most famous interacting galaxy pair, a black hole
is thought to exist at the center of M51A. |
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Magnitude: |
8.1 |
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Size: |
11.2 x 6.9 arcminutes |
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References: |
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| Location
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Hemisphere: |
Northern |
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Location: |
Latitude 44.841N by Longitude -122.869W |
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Elevation: |
90 Meters |
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Date: |
February 18-21, 2009 |
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Time Zone: |
-8 (Pacific Standard Time) |
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Time: |
10:00pm to 5:00am |
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Light Pollution: |
Class 4.5 on the Bortle scale (Rural/Suburban transition) |
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Equipment
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Imager: |
Nikon D90 |
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OTA: |
Nikkor 600mm F4 ED Telephoto Lens |
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Barlow: |
Nikkor TC-301 2x Teleconverter |
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Mount: |
Hypertuned Orion Atlas EQ-G |
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Guiding: |
Orion StarShoot Autoguider and Nikkor 300mm f2.8 ED Telephoto Lens |
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Imaging
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Camera: |
Nikon D90 & StarShoot II DSCI |
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NR: |
ON (Mode 2) |
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Quality: |
RAW |
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Size: |
4288 x 2848 |
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ISO: |
variable |
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Exposure: |
variable |
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White Balance: |
Direct sunlight, 0, 0 |
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Color
Space: |
adobeRGB |
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Exp Comp: |
0EV |
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Metering: |
Spot |
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Filter: |
Nikon 39mm Mounted Astronomik CLS |
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Scale: |
0.38 arcseconds per pixel |
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FOV: |
54.99 x 34.80 arcminutes |
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Cropped FOV: |
41.31 x 34.65 arcminutes |
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Camera Control: |
ImagesPlus |
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Light
Fames: |
27 x (300sec @ ISO1600), 9 x (480sec @ ISO1600) |
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Darks: |
auto darks via mode 2 |
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Flats: |
none |
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Total Exposure: |
> 2 hours |
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Image Processing
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Stacking: |
DeepSkyStacker V 3.2.2 & RegiStar |
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Enhancement: |
PhotoShop CS3, Noiseware Professional, Astronomy Tools PS CS2 V1_5 |
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Notes
Did not use an aperture mask to remove flaring of bright stars.
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