M 51

M 51

 

Sh2-119

 

 

 

Sh2-119

Supernova SN2023ixf in Galaxy M101

Supernova SN2023ixf in Galaxy M101

We are currently witnessing a great astro event, a supernova (the death throws of an exploding star). This supernova now named SN2023ixf is in M101 (pinwheel galaxy). This explosion is 21 million light years away and is the closest supernova in the past five years.  This supernova will give off massive light, debris and radiation and will slowly fade over the next few months. The supernova occurs when a massive star (8 times the size of our sun) runs out of fuel and is no longer able to withstand the force of its own gravity. The star collapses into a super dense remnant such as a black hole or neutron star, blasting debris and radiation into space. The star becomes incredibly bright at first and then will begin to fade over several months. I collected the data for this image under very poor conditions as the smoke from the Canadian wildfires limited the data collection. The M101 image is approximately 4-5 hours collected over 3 separate nights from my backyard.

M81 M82

 M81 M82

 

This image of M81 and  M82 was comprised of data obtained in 2020, 2022, and 2023 with two different telescopes and two entirely different CCD and CMOS cameras. There were 499 separate images obtained at 60 second intervals due to light pollution limiting the individual acquisitions. Total acquisition time was 8 1/3 hours.  It was a labor of love with the data obtained on 16 separate nights.