This image of Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is an early effort taken with my modified Canon 450D on my SkyWatcher ED-100. With only 15 ten-minute frames (2.5 hours of exposure), the result could be improved upon, but it's a good start for now.

M101 is a face-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear, also containing the Big Dipper). At 21 million light-years from Earth, M101 has a diameter of 170,000 light-years making it roughly equal the size of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Image Center:	View full size annotated image.
Right Ascension:	14h 3m 33.245s (210° 53m 18.682s)
Declination:	+54° 16m 55.425s
Orientation:	Up is 86.8 degrees West of North.
Image Size:	1.414° x 56.466'	Pixel Scale:	1.186"

Principal objects in field: M 101, NGC 5457, NGC 5473, NGC 5474, NGC 5477

All identified catalog objects: HD 122471, HD 122601, HD 122865, HD 238315, HD 238318, HD 238321, NGC 5447, NGC 5449, NGC 5450, NGC 5451, NGC 5453, NGC 5455, NGC 5457, NGC 5458, NGC 5461, NGC 5462, NGC 5471, NGC 5473, NGC 5474, NGC 5477