Object: M81	Camera: Meade DSI Pro II
Date: 11/26/2008	Telescope: Meade 80mm ED refractor
Total Exposure: LRGB - 50':40':40':40'	Subexposures: 2 minutes each
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G	Guiding: PHD - Orion StarShoot Auto Guider
Location: West Boylston, MA	Guide Scope: Orion Short Tube 80

Processing:

Nebulosity:
Dark/Flat frame calibration

Each color channel Aligned and Combined

Each of those sets aligned with each other

Photoshop:

Each channel imported using Fits Liberator plug-in

Curves and Levels adjusted to each channel

Red, Green and Blue channels RGB merged

Luminance data added via Steve Cannistra's Luminance Corrected LRGB method

More curves and levels adjustments to taste

Description:
M81
Discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774.

Messier 81 (M81, NGC 3031) in Ursa Major is one of the most conspicuous galaxies in the sky, and one of the nearest beyond the Local Group. It is a conspicuous spiral galaxy. M81 is one of the easiest and most rewarding galaxies to observe for the amateur astronomer on the northern hemisphere, because with its total visual brightness of about 6.8 magnitudes it can be found with small instruments.