M109 is very roughly 81 million light years away, give or take 24 million. We find it in Ursa Major very near one of the stars in the Big Dipper's bowl. M109 is classed as a barred spiral. It is the largest of a group of galaxies called, with affection, the M109 Group. I've always found M109 fascinating. This is my second image of it. Other galaxies are readily visible in the image. The brightest of these are UGC 6923 (PGC 37553), on the left; UGC 6940, about 9:30 from M109; and UGC 6969 (PGC 37700), above and right of M109. Some or none of these might be satellite galaxies of M109, but some folks think each of them is. This image is shrunken slightly for noise reduction.
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT111EDT and William Optics AFR-IV (eff. at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 (24x900" for M109 and 17x900" for everything else---I had some sort of glow in 7 frames that did not cover the galaxy), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: SHSU Observatory near Huntsville, TX; Starry Nights Bed and Breakfast near Wimberley, TX
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