M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (2024)

M101 is a large spiral galaxy that is seen face-on. While difficult to see visually, it is an easy target for beginner astrophotographers. In this post, you will find information, images, and tips to photograph the Pinwheel Galaxy.

Object Designation: M101, NGC 5457

Also known as: The Pinwheel Galaxy

Constellation: Ursa Major

Object Type: Spiral Galaxy

Distance: 20.9 million light-years away

Magnitude: 7.9

Discovery: Pierre Méchain in1781

We have photographed the Pinwheel galaxy several times over the years with different telescopes and cameras, we'll show you each attempt below!

The Pinwheel Galaxy appears symmetrical at first, but long exposures reveal that it is obviously not. The reason for that is its dwarf companion NGC 5474, which interacts with M101 with its gravitational force.

Several other small galaxies in the surroundings of the Pinwheel are also to blame for the non-symmetrical shape of this beautiful Messier object.

M101 Astrophotography from a Dark Site in RGB-HA

June 20, 2023

Three years after our latest attempt, we decided to shoot the Pinwheel Galaxy again, but this time using our larger refractor telescope and upgraded monochrome camera.

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (1)

This equipment is set up under Bortle 2 skies in Southern Utah, at a remote observatory called Utah Desert Remote Observatories.

Because we now have this remote setup, we were able to spend many nights on this target and take our time to gather data until being satisfied

We spent a total of 35 hours on this image, using four filters: R, G, B, and HA. We are overall very satisfied with the results. I at first thought that my processing was a bit too purple, but this color on this specific galaxy grew on me and I decided that I liked it as is.

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (2)

GEAR USED:

Camera: QHY600M

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX130

Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS

Accessories: Moonlite Nitecrawler focuser / Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox

Processing: Pixinsight, with R-C Astro plugins

ACQUISITION DETAILS:

Total Exposure Time: 35 hours

Exposure Time per frame: 10 minutes

Gain: 56

How to Find the Pinwheel Galaxy

The Pinwheel Galaxy is located in the famous Ursa Major constellation and is very easy to spot in the night sky. You can find it just above the double stars Alcor and Mizar, which form the handle of the big dipper. Due to its low surface brightness, you will not be able to spot M101 with the naked eye. It is also a challenge to see through binoculars or a telescope, so a very dark site is a must!

William Herschel took a peek at the galaxy two years after it was discovered by Pierre Méchain and wrote:

In the northern part is a large star pretty distinctly seen, and in the southern I saw 5 or 6 small ones glitter through the greatest nebulosity which appears to consist of stars. Evening bad. This and the 51st (M51) are both so far removed from the appearance of stars that it is the next step to not being able to resolve them. My new 20 feet will probably render it easy”.

M101 with a Small Refractor and Monochrome Camera

April 23, 2020

Although galaxies are better captured with larger telescopes, we wanted to try imaging it with our small refractor and see if we could still get a beautiful image full of details.

We decided to image M101 while waiting for our main target for the night, Messier 16 to rise. We spent a total of 3.5 hours on it and decided to switch around midnight when the Eagle Nebula was about to be high enough on the horizon.

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (4)

GEAR USED:

Telescope: Meade 70mm APO

Processing: Pixinsight

ACQUISITION DETAILS:

Total Exposure Time: 3.5 hours

Exposure Time per frame: 3 minutes

70 lights - 15Darks

Gain: 139

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (5)

We are happy with the results and are very glad to have added Hydrogen Alpha to the image as M101 is really full of star formation activity in the spiral arms.

The red blobs you see in the galaxy are all nebulae, star nurseries, and intense gases that can be compared to the nebulae found in our own Milky Way galaxy.

M101 with an 8" Reflector and Stock DSLR Camera

May 11, 2016

Below is our photo taken with an 8” telescope, and a total exposure time of 2.4 hours. We were planning to spend 4 hours on it, but Dalia fell asleep in the trunk of the car after about 2 hours so we had to cut it short... Especially because we had to finish recording our very first Episode of Galactic Hunter!

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (6)

GEAR USED:

Camera: Canon t3i

Processing: Pixinsight

ACQUISITION DETAILS:

Total Exposure Time: 2.4 hours

Exposure Time per frame: 6 minutes

24 lights - 20Darks - 20Bias

ISO: 800

The First Picture Ever Taken of M101

The first astrophotography image of the Pinwheel Galaxy ever taken was done by Isaac Roberts, and was named "Nebula Messier 101 Ursae Majoris".

This picture was shot on the night of May 30th, 1892 using a 20-inch reflector telescope. The total exposure time is three hours and twenty minutes.

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (7)

This is a beautiful image, which shows great details, is well in focus, and is overall very impressive considering it was taken more than 130 years ago! Good job Isaac, you deserved an APOD.

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (8)

COOL FACTS About the Pinwheel Galaxy

  • Contains about 1 trillion stars

  • 70% larger than the Milky Way

  • Hubble’s M101 was the most detailed image of a galaxy when taken

Single Shot &Processing of M101

Below you can see what a single shot of M101 looked like from a Bortle 2 site at 600 sec. You can easily see the galaxy itself, and even the dwarf NGC 5474 to the left! This is a very promising single frame and when stacked, becomes an amazing image before even starting to process it.

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M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (10)

One concern we had with this particular shot is the tilt. Our camera suffered from tilt issues during that time and this gave us a lot of unwanted artifacts, as you see here with the large reflections.

We had to crop the data quite a bit, and work some magic with the background in Photoshop to do our best to hide the reflections.

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The Pinwheel Galaxy is really easy to process, the only challenge is to bring out the arms as much as possible and try to show some details in the faint and unimpressive NGC 5474. On the right you can see what the stacked images look like after a quick stretch.

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We made a full guide on how to process galaxies on PixInsight using this data of Messier 101 as an example! To learn our exact workflow for processing galaxies, including how to combine HA with RGB, be sure to get the guide which has several lessons, walkthrough videos, downloadable raw data and our custom process icons.

Galactic Hunter Episode #1 - The Pinwheel Galaxy

The Pinwheel Galaxy was the very first target we chose to start our Galactic Hunter channel, so it really means a lot to us!

Messier 101 FAQ

  • In which constellation is the M101 Galaxy located?

You can find the M101 Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.

  • How big is the Pinwheel Galaxy?

M101 is a large spiral galaxy. It has a diameter of approximately 170,000 light-years.

  • How far is the Pinwheel Galaxy?

M101 is located approximately 21 million light-years away from Earth.

  • When was the first picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy taken?

The first picture of M101 was taken on May 30th, 1892, by astronomer Isaac Roberts.

  • How long should my exposure time be when photographing the M101 Galaxy?

We took 600-second exposures from our Bortle 2 site. We recommend doing between 300 and 600 seconds depending on your equipment. If your telescope is very fast (like an f/2 RASA for example), you can go much shorter, like 180 seconds.

  • Should I use a filter to image the Pinwheel Galaxy?

M101 is a good broadband target, so you don't need any specific filter to image it. If you'd like to reveal all the star formation regions throughout the spiral arms, then we suggest using an HA filter on top of your RGB/color data.

Final Thoughts

The Pinwheel Galaxy is a very good target for beginners, and its processing doesn't have any tricky parts! M101 will always hold an important place in our hearts, due to the fact that it was this galaxy that we picked for our first episode of Galactic Hunter.

Antoine checking the mount during the capture of M101 and the filming of the Episode (2016).

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Clear Skies,

Antoine & Dalia Grelin

Galactic Hunter

Galactic Hunter Books

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy | Astrophotography Tips and Pictures (2024)

FAQs

Is the Pinwheel Galaxy easy to see? ›

Due to its low surface brightness, you will not be able to spot M101 with the naked eye. It is also a challenge to see through binoculars or a telescope, so a very dark site is a must!

What makes the Pinwheel Galaxy special? ›

It has an unusually high number of areas that are called H 11 regions, and these contain large, bright new stars that are ionized. A 1991 observation discovered 1,264 of the H 11 regions in the Pinwheel galaxy, with three of them so bright that they achieved their own designations of: NGC 5461, NGC 5462 and NGC 5471.

How to spot Pinwheel Galaxy? ›

If you would like to observe the Pinwheel Galaxy or photograph it, it is best seen in the northern hemisphere in April and can be observed through a small telescope. You can find it quite easily by locating the Plough or Big Dipper asterism in the constellation Ursa Major.

What galaxies are around M101? ›

M101 has six prominent companion galaxies: NGC 5204, NGC 5474, NGC 5477, NGC 5585, UGC 8837 and UGC 9405. As stated above, the gravitational interaction between it and its satellites may have spawned its grand design pattern.

Can I see the Pinwheel Galaxy with binoculars? ›

Messier 101 - M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy)

At magnitude +7.9, it can be glimpsed in binoculars or small telescopes from dark sites. However, this galaxy suffers from low surface brightness and in bad seeing conditions or light polluted areas is sometimes difficult to spot even with 200mm (8-inch) scopes.

Is the supernova in M101 still visible? ›

A new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, aka M101, is the closest to Earth in a decade. Amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki discovered it on May 19, 2023. The supernova should remain visible to amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes for a few months.

Can you see M101 with a telescope? ›

Located 25 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M101 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9. It can be spotted through a small telescope and is most easily observed during April.

Is there a supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy? ›

The closest supernova to Earth in five years was discovered in the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, on 19 May by amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki.

How far away is galaxy M101? ›

Does M101 have a black hole? ›

Astronomers have, for the first time, directly measured the mass of a mysterious source of X-ray light in the galaxy M101, one of our nearest spiral neighbors. Turns out it's composed of an ultra-bright stellar-mass black hole and an orbiting star.

What does M101 mean in space? ›

The galaxy, often called the Pinwheel galaxy, was designated object 101 in astronomer Charles Messier's catalog of fuzzy things in the sky that are not comets. Stargazers can find the galaxy with a pair of binoculars in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear).

What is the brightness of M101? ›

The integrated magnitude of M101 is a bright 8.2, and if it were all concentrated into a star, M101 would be a piece of cake. But instead all that light is spread out over a circular area roughly 30' in diameter.

Is the Pinwheel Galaxy visible from Earth? ›

Pierre Méchain, one of Charles Messier's colleagues, discovered the Pinwheel galaxy in 1781. Located 25 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M101 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9. It can be spotted through a small telescope and is most easily observed during April.

Which type of galaxy is very difficult to see? ›

We find that elliptical galaxies range all the way from the giants, just described, to dwarfs, which may be the most common kind of galaxy. Dwarf ellipticals (sometimes called dwarf spheroidals) escaped our notice for a long time because they are very faint and difficult to see.

What is the easiest galaxy to see from Earth? ›

Watching the Neighbors in Autumn

Besides the Milky Way, there's one other galaxy you can easily see with your own eyes under dark skies - M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It appears as a tiny, elongated misty patch, and at a distance of 2.5 million light-years, it's the most distant object visible without optical aid.

What is the easiest nebula to see? ›

Finding the Orion Nebula is easy as it is in the constellation Orion, one of the most easily recognisable constellations.

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