M51 -- WHIRLPOOL GALAXY

Object

Type                      Spiral Galaxy

Constellation            Canes Venatici

Distance                 37 million light years

Magnitude               8.4

Size                       11x7 arc-min

Image

Date                       2007-06-16, 2007-06-17, 2007-07-07

Place                      Heart of America Star Party, RMCC Observatory (Mounds)

Exposure Data          LRGB  90:60:60:75 mins @ -10C

                             Lum 18x5, R 12x5, G 12x5, B 15x5

Notes                     R, G, B filters binned 2x2

Equipment

Optics                    Takahashi TOA-150

Focal Length            1100 mm @f/7.3

Mount                     Takahashi NJP

Camera                   SBIG ST-10XME

Focuser                  RoboFocus

Filters                     CFW-10, Astrodon LRGB

Software                 TheSky6, CCDSoft, CCDAutopilot3, CCDStack, PhotoShop CS