M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195)) (urmymuse)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn) · Contains: IC 4278 · M 51 · NGC 5194 · NGC 5195 · Whirlpool galaxy

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

So many fantastic images of M51 on the site, here is my best .. so far, long way to go yet, third attempt at acquisition of data ... 9th processed version ... heavily cropped obv to bring larger.

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy Its distance is estimated to be 23 million light-years away from Earth.

What later became known as the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered on October 13, 1773, by Charles Messier while hunting for objects that could confuse comet hunters, and was designated in Messier's catalogue as M51. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain, although it was not known whether it was interacting or merely another galaxy passing at a distance. In 1845, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, employing a 72-inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, Ireland, found the Whirlpool possessed a spiral structure, the first "nebula" to be known to have one. These "spiral nebulae" were not recognized as galaxies until Edwin Hubble was able to observe Cepheid variables in some of these spiral nebulae, which provided evidence that they were so far away that they must be entirely separate galaxies even though they are seen close together.

The advent of radio astronomy and subsequent radio images of M51 unequivocally demonstrated that the Whirlpool and its companion galaxy are indeed interacting. Sometimes the designation M51 is used to refer to the pair of galaxies, in which case the individual galaxies may be referred to as M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195).

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	3253438
PixInsight job	K82WXSS4R49OCQA58F7SZ02ZQR6TEV6J
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	13h29m53s.62
RA (top/left)	13h28m41s.54
RA (top/right)	13h30m44s.67
RA (bottom/right)	13h31m05s.94
RA (bottom/left)	13h29m02s.25

Dec (center)	+47°11′59″.2
Dec (top/left)	+47°06′47″.9
Dec (top/right)	+47°01′54″.4
Dec (bottom/right)	+47°17′07″.7
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°22′02″.7

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195))

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