In the second part of December nights, at east rise the constellation Ursa Maior. Looking at it, the eye can perceive galaxies and celestial objects very far from us, because we look out of our galaxy, toward the open space. As consequence, many far galaxies can be detected into the borders of Ursa Maior. One of this is M81 (NGC3031), imaged in the picture above, which is a perfect example of spiral galaxy. It's very similar to the famous Andromeda galaxy, which is closer to us and apparently more extended over the sky. M81 was discovered in 1774 by the german astronomer J. E. Bode, and is also called The Bode Nebula. Observing this area with a low power eyepiece, in the same FOV can be seen a lot of other galaxies, as M82, an irregular one which is phisically linked with M81.

Camera : Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 with Astronomik LRGB dichroic filters


Telescope : Takahashi FS-102 at F/8 on a GM2000-FS2


Guiding : ST4 on a Vixen 80/910mm.


Exposure : L 6x600sec. - RGB 3x300sec. each all unbinned


Processing : MaxIm (align, combine, DDP) - Photoshop (final enhancing)


Location : St. Barthelemy (Val d'Aosta) - 1800 mt. height


Date : December 12, 2004

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