Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4277  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
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The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena
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The Whirlpool Galaxy

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The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena
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The Whirlpool Galaxy

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Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the most spectacular sights when observing the night sky. Located at about 31 million years from us, it is a grand design spiral galaxy interacting with another one, in a slow dance by which both will merge within several million years. This image was built on top of my previous one (M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy ( Andre Vilhena ) - AstroBin) by adding Ha taken this year and reprocessing using newer techniques. As a result, this rendition looks better to me, with better color contrast, more details and more depth and I am quite pleased with it.

On a side note, revision C is a crop of several yellowish smudges can be found near the brightest star in the image - HD117818. What are these? It is no less than a galaxy cluster located at about 2.4 billion years, meaning the light we see today left the cluster that long ago. By that time, life on Earth consisted of microscopic organisms in the sea and oxygen was just beginning the build up in the atmosphere.

Hope you enjoy!

Shot at Santa Susana, Portugal on the 29th and 30th of April, 2022 and at Barcarena, Portugal on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of January 2023.

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  • Final
    The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena
    Original
    The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena
    B
    The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena
    C

B

Description: Full FOV

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C

Description: Galaxy Cluster

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The Whirlpool Galaxy, Andre Vilhena

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