M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) (Joon Ren)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn) · Contains: HD117815 · IC 4263 · IC 4277 · IC 4278 · M 51 · NGC 5169 · NGC 5173 · NGC 5194 · NGC 5195 · NGC 5198 · Whirlpool Galaxy

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M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

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M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

M51 consists of two interacting galaxies, the grand-design spiral Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a) and its smaller companion, dwarf galaxy NGC 5195 (M51b). Due to tidal interactions, plumes of dust can be observed at the peripherals of M51 on both sides. Other fainter galaxies are also visible, notably the two spiral galaxies 2 o'clock off M51 plus an elliptical galaxy resembling a large yellow star 3 o'clock near the right pane.

Combined with my previous southern/zodiacal images, this addition of a northern object highlights an advantage of being on the equator where both northern and southern targets are within reach. The equator however is central to Earth's rain ecosystem which means clouds are very dominant. I had to throw half of my M51 subs due to clouds so the initial exposures of 10-12 hours ended up being just over 6 hours.

Original
Final
C

Cloudy Nights

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The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8753082
PixInsight job	JU4X9J2AOWB2MC7IKWQC3TS4F9OCVC2K
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	13h29m59s.99
RA (top/left)	13h27m04s.52
RA (top/right)	13h27m34s.59
RA (bottom/right)	13h32m51s.20
RA (bottom/left)	13h32m28s.35

Dec (center)	+47°11′47″.6
Dec (top/left)	+47°46′57″.0
Dec (top/right)	+46°33′03″.7
Dec (bottom/right)	+46°36′19″.6
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°50′19″.6

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M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

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M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)

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