The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
Object Designations: NGC 5457, M101
Also known as: The Pinwheel Galaxy
Constellation: Ursa Major
Object Type: fspiral galaxy
Distance: 21.6 million light-years away
Magnitude: 7.9
Discovery: Pierre Méchain
Telescope: Apertura CarbonStar 200 Imaging Newtonian 800mm / F4
Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro – No Filter
Mount: Celestron AVX
Control: CPWI Software
Guiding: Apertura 32mm Guide Scope, ZWO ASI120MM Camera, PHD2 Software
Imaging Software: AstroSharp Ltd SharpCap
Processing Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator
Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator
Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator
Stanley Dimant EZ Processing Suite
