Spiral Galaxy
NGC 5457
Ursa Major
14H 3.2m +54° 21'

Magnitude: 7.9
Size: 28.8' × 26.9'
Distance: 17.5 million light-years

Skill Level
Though M101 is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky, its light is spread out over a large area. M101 requires a good deal of exposure and decent processing skills to bring out its faint details.

Recommended Equipment
The best telescope for M81 is probably a fast Newtonian. If you have a camera with a wide enough field of view, you should be able to get the full extent of the galaxy while preserving detail.

A small refractor is also appropriate.

Image Stats
Meade 8" SN LXD75
Meade DSI Pro III
Meade RGB + IR filters

LRGB at 526:42:46:68 minutes respectively. 2-minute subs; 2×2 binned RGB.

Average to good transparency
16, 25, 26 May and 19, 21, 22 June 2009
San Mateo, CA

See Also
M101 (April 2005)