Date/time: June 22, 2009 11:52pm to June 23 12:44pm PDT
Location: Victoria Center Observatory, Observatory Hill, Victoria, BC, Canada

M81 (Bode's Galaxy) is the spiral galaxy near the centre of the frame, and M82 (Cigar Galaxy) is the irregular galaxy to the right. These galaxies are popular targets for observing since they are bright enough to see on almost any evening. NGC 3077 is the smaller elliptical galaxy in the top of the frame. It shows signs of inerracting with the other two galaxies in this group...in fact upon close examination, all three galaxies show signs of interracting with each other when larger scale images are examined.

The stars in this photo are egg-shaped due to the mount not being perfectly polar aligned.

Camera: Hutech-modified Canon XTi dSLR mounted prime focus on a Borg 101 f/4 Astrograph mounted on an HEQ5.
Exposure: 41 frames x 1 minute each
ISO: 800

Processing:

• ImagesPlus 3.75: raw digital development, dark frames applied, no flat or bias frames applied; auto alignment; stacking (Average Combine); aggressive digital development (BP 1,124)
• ACDSee Pro 2.5 Photo Manager: 48 bit to 24 bit RGB conversion; moderate Unsharp Mask applied; size reduction