Telescope: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200
Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter
Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2
Exposure: 11x240sec, saved as FITS
Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS
Flats: 32x1sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dawn
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.5 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop
This is M109, a beautiful little spiral galaxy in Ursa Major located very near the bowl of the Big Dipper. M109 is an example of a barred galaxy, named for the bar of stars that pass through the galaxy’s core from upper left to lower right. Our own Milky Way galaxy is also believed to be a barred spiral much like M109. If you look closely you can also see two satellite galaxies of M109; UGC 6969 to the left and UGC 6940 near the bottom of this field.
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