Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is an impressive spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It lies about 21 million light years away from us and measures around 170,000 light years in diameter — noticeably larger than our Milky Way. Particularly striking are the sweeping spiral arms, which contain numerous H-II regions and star-forming areas. Thanks to its regular structure and wealth of detail, M101 is one of the most popular deep-sky objects in the northern hemisphere.
The image also shows several companion galaxies: NGC 5474 (right) has a clearly asymmetric structure caused by the gravitational influence of M101 — its galactic core is noticeably shifted to the west. Directly below M101 sits the small dwarf galaxy NGC 5477, which also belongs to the M101 group. In the background, numerous distant galaxies are visible — silent witnesses to the enormous cosmic scale.
| IMAGE DATA | |
|---|---|
| Object | Messier 101 - Feuerrad Galaxy |
| Distance | approx. 21 million light years |
| Date | 03.04. & 04.04.2025 |
| Exposure | RGB each 27x 180sec., Luminance 113x 180sec. & HA 34x 600sec. - Total approx. 15.5h |
| Mount | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro |
| Telescope | Askar 120 Apo with 1.0x Flattener |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 2600mm with ZWO LRGB & HA Filter |
| Guiding | Zwo Asi OAG with ZWO Asi 290mm Mini & Asiair |
| Software | AsiAir, Astropixel Processor, Photoshop CC, NoiseXterminator, Star X Terminator, Nik Collection 7 |