M51 – Whirlpool Galaxy

M51

Whirlpool Galaxy

Find the Big Dipper

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 Find the Big Dipper and follow the handle away from the dipper’s bowl until you get to the last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you’ll come upon this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier’s famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (bottom), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the eye, deep images like this one can reveal striking colors and the faint tidal debris around the smaller galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici

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Technical card

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ObjectM51
Imaging telescopeExplore Scientific ED 102 APO FCD1
Imaging cameraZWO ASI 1600MM PRO
Mount SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro
GuidingGuidescope 240mm, ZWO ASI 120MM
FilterZWO Lum 1.25″,  ZWO Red 1.25″,  ZWO Green 1.25″,  ZWO Blue 1.25″
AccessoriesTS PHOTOLINE x0.80 Reducer/Korrektor
Integration7.9 hours, Lum: 111×120″, Red: 41×120″, Green: 44×120″, Blue: 40×120″,
Dates of recordingMay 7, 2018 ,  May 8, 2018 ,  May 9, 2018
AstroBinLink

M51 PRINT & RAW DATA

Now available for purchase in 3 different sizes. Premium Fuji Crystal prints with a gloss finish. Fuji C-Type paper guarantees excellent detail, contrast and color accuracy.

Download of the fully calibrated data set now available!

Download my full resolution astrophotos here: astrobin.com/users/dotexplore/
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