Simcoe Skies Astronomy

M81 - "Bode's Galaxy"

M81 "Bode's Galaxy", NGC 3031 A bright and popular galaxy for observers, M81 is 12 million light years away in Ursa Major. Magnitude: 7.9 Location: Ursa Major Size: 27'x14' Date: Aug 26, 2008 Camera: ToUcam SC1.5 with direct bias injection Exposures: 30 Exposure length: 60 seconds Amp on setting: OFF; RAW mode Brightness: 51% Gamma: 52% Gain: 40% Color: R34B14 (raw mode) Filter: IR filter Processing notes: captured, aligned & stacked in K3CCDtools, histogram stretching in IMERGE, noise reduction and contrast adjustment in Photoshop. Notes: 60 second exposures really helped to draw out the detail in this image.