Categories
Astrophotography

M82-The Cigar Galaxy

M82 is an interesting galaxy due to the fact it is an edge-on starburst galaxy. Stars are forming 10 times faster than in the Milky Way Galaxy. M82’s red (ionized hydrogen) outflow filaments are created by energy released by supernovae in the galaxy center which occur at a rate of about one every ten years. I have messed around with this galaxy a few times but never got an image I’ve really liked. So, the last two nights, this is all I did. I now have 5 hours of exposure on this galaxy with the C8 (at 1200 mm focal length using a .63 reducer).

Five hours of total exposure and probably about the same amount of time stacking and processing, this is the final result. I’m not sure if I will add more exposure or not. I’ve seen photos with as much as 16 hours exposure and they are impressive but that is a lot of time spent on one object!