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Object Type: Spiral Galaxy (Sc)
Constellation: Ursa Major
Magnitude: 7.9
Size: 22'

M101 is located about 27 million light-years from our solar system. Although its integrated magnitude of 7.9 suggests that it is one of the brighter galaxies in the sky, it has a low surface brightness due to its large apparent size.

Equipment: Meade 14" LX200R/STL-11000M/Astrodon LRGB filters/Paramount ME
F-ratio: f/9.5
Exposures: LRGB:  L 66 x 20 minutes; R 53 x 20 minutes; G 57 x 20 minutes; B 55 x 20 minutes; binned 2x2
Date: May 2-3, 5, 18-20, 24-26, 28-31, June 1, 3-5, 2014
Location: Landers, California, USA
Technical Notes: Individual exposures were calibrated and combined in CCDStack2. A minimum filter of 1 pixel was applied to the bright portions of the red channel of the RGB image to reduce star bloat. The RGB image was duplicated twice and blended with the original using Linear Light and Hard Light to enhance color. The luminance image was selectively sharpened using High Pass filters of 4 and 2 pixels.