Date Posted: 2/9/2022
Date Taken: Three nights, from 1/31/2022 thru 2/5/2022
Scope: Planewave CDK 12.5 f/8, 2541mm
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 with Astrodon Tru-Balance E-Series Gen2 filters
Temp: -15C, -25C
Mount: Losmandy Titan
Guiding: On-axis via ONAG-XM and SX UltraStar at 2541mm. FocusLock real-time focus for focusing.
Exposure: LRGB, 280:145:140:140. Luminance 10min unbinned; RGB 5min binned 2x2.

Calibrated and Stacked with CCDStack2. Processed with CS4.

M61 is a nice barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. At 100,000 light years, it is roughly the same size as the Milky Way. The blue spiral at lower left is NGC 4301, and the larger lenticular galaxy to the lower right is NGC 4292.

I first tried doing a very modest DDP stretch, to get smaller stars, but the galaxy, once stretched, didn't show much detail in the fainter areas. I then did a more aggressive stretch to get a better galaxy, but I thought the background stars were too bloated. I ended up partially blending the background stars from the first attempt with the better-defined galaxy from the second.