Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major, a classic face-on spiral galaxy, large and obvious in binoculars. The odd galaxy at bottom is NGC 5474. This is a stack of 9 x 10-minute exposures with the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800 through the Astro-Physics 130mm apo refractor at f/6 with the 6x7 field flattener lens.
This wide-field image frames the end stars of the Big Dipper's handle — Mizar at top, and Alkaid at bottom — and to also include in the frame the bright galaxies Messier 101 (at left) and Messier 51 (at lower right, aka the Whirlpool Galaxy). They are small on this image scale but the image serves for a finder chart illustration of the location of these galaxies relative to the Handle. The famous double star Mizar and Alcor is also obvious at top, as is the red giant star 83 Ursa Majoris. The field is 10° x 15°, so wider than binoculars. This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon EF 135mm lens stopped down to /2.8 (thus the diffraction spikes on the stars) on the Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker.
