Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  Cigar Galaxy  ·  HD83838  ·  HD85161  ·  HD85458  ·  HD85533  ·  HD85828  ·  HD86559  ·  HD86574  ·  HD87000  ·  M 81  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 2959  ·  NGC 2961  ·  NGC 2976  ·  NGC 3031  ·  NGC 3034  ·  NGC 3077
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M81 Bodes Galaxy and  M82 Cigar Galaxy Wide Field HaRGB, Eric Smith
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M81 Bodes Galaxy and M82 Cigar Galaxy Wide Field HaRGB

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M81 Bodes Galaxy and  M82 Cigar Galaxy Wide Field HaRGB, Eric Smith
Powered byPixInsight

M81 Bodes Galaxy and M82 Cigar Galaxy Wide Field HaRGB

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Description

A wider field view of Bodes Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy using two imaging sessions with a OSC camera.
One of the objectives for this wide field image was to capture the IFN (Integrated Flux Nebula) that surrounds the region.  This is why over 50 hours of imaging was taken to pick up the weak background signal.

Primarily the RGB was taken using a UV/UR cut filter during the moonless nights, and the Ha data was added from a narrowband session using the Optolong L-Extreme 3nm filter during brighter moonlit nights.

Each image was edited independently in Pixinsight, but blended into a composite image using a simple Pixelmath combine expression with the Combine screen option.  This allowed the stronger Ha signal from the narrowband data to blend into the RGB image and help to make the weaker Ha signals standout, especially in M82 the Cigar Galaxy.

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M81 Bodes Galaxy and  M82 Cigar Galaxy Wide Field HaRGB, Eric Smith