The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195 (Greg Erianne)

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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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) is an interacting grand-design, spiral galaxy and is located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy, is 76,900 light-years in diameter, and is between 23 and 31 million light-years away from Earth. It interacts with the small, yellowish galaxy, NGC 5195 (seen to the left of M51 in the photo), which is believed to cause disturbance in the magnetic field lines of M51. Both galaxies are so prominent they may be seen through binoculars (with a sufficiently dark sky).
Several other galaxies can be seen nearby in the photo.
Capture Date: 5/5/23
Askar 107PHQ
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
ZWO AM5 mount with guiding via ASIAir Plus using an ASI178mm mini and a 60mm F4 guide scope
Light Frames [Total Exposure 1:45] used Antlia Triband Ultra RGB filter -- 600s x 21 frames
All light frames calibrated with dark, flat, and bias frames
Pre- and post-processed in PixInsight
Additional post-processing in Photoshop for exposure adjustments and generation of jpeg

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	7847043
PixInsight job	G5JFQUBZ3PZPYQHQ100OMQ7S4GC7PW8S
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	13h29m40s.45
RA (top/left)	13h27m19s.10
RA (top/right)	13h26m39s.82
RA (bottom/right)	13h31m59s.50
RA (bottom/left)	13h32m45s.10

Dec (center)	+47°09′15″.8
Dec (top/left)	+47°48′58″.7
Dec (top/right)	+46°34′42″.8
Dec (bottom/right)	+46°29′26″.2
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°43′31″.1

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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, NGC 5194) and interacting galaxy, NGC 5195

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