Hydrogen Stream & IFN Near M81 & M82

Image Title: The Full Hydrogen Stream & IFN Near M81 & M82 - A 321-Hour Deep Field Collaboration

Copyright: Copyright: Collaborative Astrophotography Team (CAT)

Date image was taken: March 09, 2025

Location: Worldwide

Data Acquisition Method: Shared Community Data

Image Description and Details: This stunning astrophotograph features two prominent galaxies, Messier 81 (Bode's Galaxy) and Messier 82 (The Cigar Galaxy), located 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. These galaxies are in a gravitational interaction that has influenced their shapes and evolution. The image also highlights a rich cosmic scene, including the faint Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN), Hydrogen (Hα) filaments in M82, distant galaxies, quasars, and a star field, capturing the grandeur of this celestial region. This image marks the origin of the Collaborative Amateur Telescope (CAT).

The Collaborative Amateur Telescope (CAT) was founded unexpectedly by a group of astrophotographers who came together online to collaborate on a project. Initially, it was an experiment to combine skills, share resources, and push the limits of what could be captured collectively. Despite technical challenges like data sharing and processing, the team succeeded and continued their work. The choice of Messier 81 and Messier 82 was random, but the deep-field exploration that followed revealed unexpected details, from hydrogen alpha jets in M82 to distant galaxies and quasars, embodying the spirit of collaboration that inspired CAT’s creation.

This image is the result of a collaborative effort by five astrophotographers, each contributing to different aspects of data acquisition and processing (in order of amount of data acquired):
Heath
Maarten
Mayur
Alejandro
Trevor
Our combined efforts in data collection, post-processing, and refinement made this project a rewarding achievement.

This image is a result of a stunning 321 hours of integration.

Full write up and details on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/m6cjk0/

Equipment Details: Telescopes used:
GSO 6" f/4 Imaging Newtonian, Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED, Stellarvue SVX102T-R, William Optics ZenithStar 73iii / ZS73iii, William Optics ZenithStar 73ii / ZS73ii

Cameras Used:
Altair Hypercam 1600M PRO TEC, Player One Uranus-C Pro, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro, ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Name: Collaborative Astrophotography Team