Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Deep Sky Object Image Gallery

Galaxies are perhaps one of the most attractive deep-sky objects to observe and photograph. They represent massive collections of dust, gas and countless billions of stars and are best described as islands of space matter across the universe. They are characterized as being either spiral or elliptical in nature and usually have a bright central core. Equally stunning to observe (with large-aperture telescopes) and image are galaxy clusters which represent collections of gravitationally-bound groups of galaxies whose members number from tens to thousands and which are classified on the basis of their richness (ie. number of galaxy members), shape (spherical, flat or irregular) and content (spiral or elliptical). Charles Messier's list of deep-sky celestial gems includes approximately forty bright and large galaxies.

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, represents a galaxy within the Local Group (of Galaxies) numbering 30 galaxies in total, five million light years in diameter and which is moving in unison towards the constellation of Virgo. Other prominent galaxies within the Local Group include Andromeda (150,000 light-years in diameter), Triangulum (40,000 light-years in diameter) and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (30,000 and 20,000 light-years in diameter respectively). The center of the Local Group is believed to lie between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The richest member of our Local Group is the Virgo Cluster which is believed to contain approximately 2500 galaxies mostly elliptical in nature.

Note: One of the most stunning and brightest galaxies of the northern hemisphere is M81, a classic grand design spiral galaxy with uniform swirling arms which measures two-thirds of the full-moon in diameter and lies 11.8 million light-years away in the circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. The galaxy was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on the last day of the year in 1774 along with its companion galaxy M82 which lies 150,000 light-years and 0.75 degrees away (both galaxies are interacting). It is estimated that M81 is comprised of approximately 250 billion stars including many young blue hot stars in its spiral arms (star-forming regions) as well as older yellow stars in its core. This galaxy has been the source of one (type II) supernova discovery (1993J, mag 10.5); over 30 Cepheids have been identified and measured; and it is believed that approximately 200 globular clusters are home to M81. The galaxy is best observed during winter when M81 (and UMa) cross the meridian just after midnight and is easily visible in 10x50 binoculars and low-power magnifications through a telescope.

Please click on the image below to display in higher resolution (1200 x 900)

Image Details
M81 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major
Imaging Details
NGC Number:
3031

Common Name(s):
M81

Other Designations:
Bode's Nebula,
PGC 28630


Object Type:
Galaxy

Object Classif:
Sb I-II

Constellation:
Ursa Major

RA / Dec:
09h 55m 33s /
69° 03' 55"


Distance:
11.8 million ly

Object Size:
23' x 11'

Magnitude:
6.9
Date:
Apr 04-05, 2010
21:45 - 02:25 UT+3


Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF
AP 1200GTO GEM
SBIG ST-10XME
SBIG CFW10
SBIG LRGB + IR-block


Integrations:
Lum :  120 min (12 x 10 min)
Red :  050 min (05 x 10 min)
Green :  050 min (05 x 10 min)
Blue :  050 min (05 x 10 min)
Binning :  1x1 (Lum),  1x1 (RGB)

Image Scale:
1.17" per pixel

Temperatures:
Ambient : + 11.0 ° C
CCD Chip : - 20.0 ° C

Software:
CCDSoft V5.00.195
CCDStack V1.6.0.5
eXcalibrator V1.0.3.0
Aladin V6
Photoshop CS2