Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4277  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
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Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), Gerould Kern
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Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), Gerould Kern
Powered byPixInsight

Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

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Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)—This is one of the truly breathtaking jewels of the northern sky, discovered by Charles Messier in 1773 and the first spiral galaxy to be catalogued. I captured this image on April 2-3 from our backyard. This is actually two colliding galaxies 25 million light-years distant: The big spiral and its smaller and more amorphous companion to the top in this photo. Gravitational waves generated by this close encounter caused intense star formation amid the reddish dust lanes in M51’s spiral arms. My companion this night was a great horned owl that came screeching overhead in pursuit of prey. Gave me a start.

40 exposures of 5-minutes each through William Optics GT 81mm f5.9. ZWOASI183 with Optolong L-Pro filter.

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Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), Gerould Kern