Messier 81 - NGC 3031

"Bode's Galaxy"

• TYPE:  Spiral Galaxy, Type SA(s)ab I-II
• RA: 09h 55.6'
• DEC:  +69degrees 04'
• SIZE:  24.0' X 13.0'
• VISUAL MAGNITUDE:  6.9
• SURFACE BRIGHTNESS:  13.0
• CONSTELLATION:  Ursa Major
• DISTANCE:  4.5 Million Light Years
• DIAMETER:  53 Thousand Light Years

IMAGING INFORMATION

• TELESCOPE:  RCOS Carbon fiber 10 inch R/C reflector, on a Parramount GT1100
• REDUCER/CORRECTOR:  None / operating at 9.0 FL
• CAMERA:  Santa Barbara Instruments Group, ST-8XME Digital (Thermoelectrically cooled)
• ADAPTIVE OPTICS:  None, Off-axis guiding with a ST402XME and a Astro Don ROAG
• FILTER(S):  Astro Don LRGB
• CCD COOLING TEMPERATURE:  -20 C
• BINNING/RESOLUTION:  2 X 2 (765 X 510) LRGB resized to 1530x1020
• EXPOSURE TIME:  5 min. Luminance,Red, Green, Blue.
• NUMBER OF IMAGES:  12, 12, 12, 12
• FILM SPEED:  None
• DATE/TIME:  12-31-2008 / 08:15:01.709 UTC
• LOCATION:  Valley Center, California
• TEMPERATURE:  52 degrees
• HUMIDITY:  43%

All the images in this site are © Copyright 1999-2012 by Kevin Hearst.
Commercial use of these images without the prior written consent or knowledge of the author is strictly prohibited.