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Object Information
Name: |
M51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy) |
Type: |
Spiral Galaxy |
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. |
Magnitude: |
8.1 |
Size: |
11.2 x 6.9 arcminutes |
References: |
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Location
Hemisphere: |
Northern |
Location: |
Latitude 44.841N by Longitude -122.869W |
Elevation: |
90 Meters |
Date: |
February 18-21, 2009 |
Time Zone: |
-8 (Pacific Standard Time) |
Time: |
10:00pm to 5:00am |
Light Pollution: |
Class 4.5 on the Bortle scale (Rural/Suburban transition) |
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Equipment
Imager: |
Nikon D90 |
OTA: |
Nikkor 600mm F4 ED Telephoto Lens |
Barlow: |
Nikkor TC-301 2x Teleconverter |
Mount: |
Hypertuned Orion Atlas EQ-G |
Guiding: |
Orion StarShoot Autoguider and Nikkor 300mm f2.8 ED Telephoto Lens |
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Imaging
Camera: |
Nikon D90 & StarShoot II DSCI |
NR: |
ON (Mode 2) |
Quality: |
RAW |
Size: |
4288 x 2848 |
ISO: |
variable |
Exposure: |
variable |
White Balance: |
Direct sunlight, 0, 0 |
Color
Space: |
adobeRGB |
Exp Comp: |
0EV |
Metering: |
Spot |
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Filter: |
Nikon 39mm Mounted Astronomik CLS |
Scale: |
0.38 arcseconds per pixel |
FOV: |
54.99 x 34.80 arcminutes |
Cropped FOV: |
41.31 x 34.65 arcminutes |
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Camera Control: |
ImagesPlus |
Light
Fames: |
27 x (300sec @ ISO1600), 9 x (480sec @ ISO1600) |
Darks: |
auto darks via mode 2 |
Flats: |
none |
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Total Exposure: |
> 2 hours |
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Image Processing
Stacking: |
DeepSkyStacker V 3.2.2 & RegiStar |
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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