Targets / M101
Astrophotoguru · Pinwheel Galaxy
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M101

M101 — Pinwheel Galaxy

Galaxy
· Ursa Major
Intermediate
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Observing: Tonight · 8:00 PM–5:00 AM

Observability

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Overall Imaging Recommendation

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Target information

Object type
Galaxy
Constellation
Ursa Major
Right ascension
14h 03m 13s
Declination
+54° 20′ 55″
Magnitude
7.9
Angular size
28.8′ × 26.9′
Surface brightness
14.8 mag/arcmin²
Difficulty
Intermediate
Best months
Mar-Jun
Catalog IDs
M101;NGC 5457

About this target

Large face-on spiral galaxy; low surface brightness rewards dark skies.

Recommended telescopes

TEC
1345mm f/9.6 · 140mm aperture
Frames 48% of APS-C FOV
Celestron
1500mm f/10.0 · 150mm aperture
Frames 53% of APS-C FOV
TEC
1260mm f/7.0 · 180mm aperture
Frames 45% of APS-C FOV
TEC
1600mm f/8.0 · 200mm aperture
Frames 57% of APS-C FOV
Astro-Tech
1624mm f/8.0 · 203mm aperture
Frames 58% of APS-C FOV
Stellarvue
1200mm f/7.9 · 152mm aperture
Frames 43% of APS-C FOV

Recommended cameras

QHYCCD
3.76µm pixels · cooled
Player One
4.63µm pixels · cooled
ZWO
5.94µm pixels · cooled
OGMA
3.76µm pixels · cooled
OGMA
3.76µm pixels · cooled
ToupTek
2.90µm pixels · cooled

Example framing

FOV 0.81° × 0.55°
Scale 0.71″/px
Target fills 87% of frame
Preview in planner
FOV 0.73° × 0.50°
Scale 0.64″/px
Target fills 97% of frame
Preview in planner
FOV 0.87° × 0.59°
Scale 0.76″/px
Target fills 81% of frame
Preview in planner

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