M101, also known as the Northern Pinwheel Galaxy is a Hubble Class Sc galaxy that presents us with a nearly face-on view. Its apparent size in the sky is as big as the full moon. It is believed to have undergone tidal interaction with a dwarf galaxy member of its local group, NGC 5477 visible at the far left edge of the image. This interaction gave M101 a decidedly off-center core and far flung spiral arms. It also triggered collapse of many regions of active star formation within its spiral arms, many of which have their own NGC numbers. M101 has 11 NGC objects within it, more than any other galaxy.
Image Data:
Telescope/mount: Celestron Compustar C14
Camera: SBIG STL 11000 with Baader Planetarium LRGB filters.
SBIG AO-L Adaptive Optics at 8Hz
Location: Pommier Observatory, Portland, OR, USA.
Dates: 2017-05-20 through 2017-05-25
Exposures: L:R:G:B=320:190:190:180 minutes=14 hours 30 minutes total exposure at f/7.2,
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Dates:
SBIG