Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4277  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
Suburban Whirlpool, 404timc
Suburban Whirlpool
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Suburban Whirlpool

Suburban Whirlpool, 404timc
Suburban Whirlpool
Powered byPixInsight

Suburban Whirlpool

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Description

The Whirlpool galaxy (M51) is a majestic grand-design spiral galaxy 31 million light-years from Earth in the Canes Venatici constellation. The arms are long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust. These arms are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars.

Some astronomers think that the Whirlpool’s arms are particularly prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the arms. The compact galaxy appears to be tugging on the arm, the tidal forces from which trigger new star formation. Hubble’s clear view shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind M51. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.

I took this shot over several nights in my suburban yard through RGB filters. I enhanced the red channel with Ha.

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  • Suburban Whirlpool, 404timc
    Original
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    Suburban Whirlpool, 404timc
    U

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Suburban Whirlpool, 404timc

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Cloudy Nights
ZWO ASI1600MM/QHY163M