M40 - Winnecke 4

What was Messier thinking? M40 or Winnecke 4 is one of the most bazaar objects that Messier included in his famous catalog of what not to confused with a comet.  Its an optical double star located in Ursa Major.  In actuality Messier was searching for a nebula that had been reported in the area, however, not seeing any nebulae, he included the double star instead. It was subsequently rediscovered by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in 1863, hence the other name (source: wikipedia).  At any rate, I was able to add this to my catalog of Messier objects captured with my Orion ED80.

Wide Field

Closeup

M40

Location: Happy Frog Observatory, Monroe, CT
Date: 3-19-17
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm
f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G GoTo Telescope Mount
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 10 x 90s (15 min)
ISO: 1600
Temp: 0 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Lightroom, Gradient Exterminator, Astronomy Tools, StarTools.