Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, 0C, Gain 200

Filter: 2” Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Meade DSI Pro II, PHD

Exposure: 57x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.25sec, sky flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency, bright moonlight

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 17.6 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

M82 is a close company to the nearby spiral galaxy M81 which is located about ½ degree to the south. These two form an interacting pair and M82 bears the scars of a close encounter with M82 about 100 million years ago. The dark dust lanes that cut across the central region of the galaxy are very distinctive and are easily visible in modest telescopes. M82 was originally classified as an irregular galaxy, but detailed studies had shown that it is actually a spiral seen nearly edge-on.