by Rod Pommier
Telescope/Mount: Celestron Compustar C14 with Astrophysics 0.75x focal reducer (f/8.3)
Camera: SBIG STL 11000M with Baader Planetarium H-alphaLRGB filters.
Exposures:
Left Image: H-alpha:L:R:G:B=360:240:100:100:100=15 hours total exposure obtained between 4/22 and 4/26/2013
Right Image: Same as above with addition of LRGB exposures of 90:90:90:90=6 hours additional exposure obtained on 1/26/2014. Grand total exposure for Right Image=21 hours.
These images show M82 before and after the appearance of SN2014. The jets of red hydrogen gas projecting out of the plane of the galaxy on each side are thought to be largely driven out by the frequent supernovae that occur within M82; they appear at a rate of about 1 per decade. SN2014J has a reddish-orange tint, probably due to scattering of light by M82's dust lanes interposed between us and the supernova.