Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

Bill Richards

Bill Richards

Well-Known Member
The Whirlpool Galaxy (aka M51) is a spiral galaxy 31 million light-years from Earth. NGC 5195 is the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the arms which appears to be tugging on the arm, the tidal forces from which trigger new star formation. NGC 5195 has been gliding past (behind) the Whirlpool galaxy for hundreds of millions of years.

Just above and slightly to the right of NGC 5195 is a very distant galaxy that is seen edge-on, appearing as a faint vertical line. To the left and slightly above that is IC4278, another distant galaxy. And in the bottom left corner is yet another edge-on galaxy, IC4263.

Whirlpool Galaxy-M51.jpg


This is the result of over 4 hours of exposure time taken on 4/20/2023.

Equipment and Software:
=======================
Mount: iOption CEM40 w/iPolar
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 w/0.7x focal reducer
Auto-Focuser: Rigel Systems nFOCUS
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Guide Camera: ASI174MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging Software: NINA
Guiding Software: PHD2
Image Processing Software: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
=================
Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
18 x 180s
62 x 240s
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats

#M51 #whirlpoolgalaxy #amateurastrophotography #asi2600mc #asiweek #astro #astronomy #astronomydaily #astronomyphotography #astrophotography #celestron #cosmos #deepsky #deepskyobject #galaxy #ioptron #longexpo #longexposure #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #photography #science #space #spacephotography #stargazing #stars #telescope #universe #zwocameras
 
Last edited:
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Awesome work Bill! I like all of the detail in this, very nice details in the arms.

You bring up a great point about all of the other galaxies in the image. Until I started to do Astro, I had no idea there was so many other galaxies in the sky. I thought it was just the main ones that we can see, but there are so many distant ones that appear really tiny, but still knowing they are there is really cool.
 
Todd H

Todd H

Well-Known Member
Bill Richards said:
The Whirlpool Galaxy (aka M51) is a spiral galaxy 31 million light-years from Earth. NGC 5195 is the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the arms which appears to be tugging on the arm, the tidal forces from which trigger new star formation. NGC 5195 has been gliding past (behind) the Whirlpool galaxy for hundreds of millions of years.

Just above and slightly to the right of NGC 5195 is a very distant galaxy that is seen edge-on, appearing as a faint vertical line. To the left and slightly above that is IC4278, another distant galaxy. And in the bottom left corner is yet another edge-on galaxy, IC4263.

View attachment 61142

This is the result of over 4 hours of exposure time taken on 4/20/2023.

Equipment and Software:
=======================
Mount: iOption CEM40 w/iPolar
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 w/0.7x focal reducer
Auto-Focuser: Rigel Systems nFOCUS
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Guide Camera: ASI174MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging Software: NINA
Guiding Software: PHD2
Image Processing Software: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
=================
Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
18 x 180s
62 x 240s
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats

#M51 #whirlpoolgalaxy #amateurastrophotography #asi2600mc #asiweek #astro #astronomy #astronomydaily #astronomyphotography #astrophotography #celestron #cosmos #deepsky #deepskyobject #galaxy #ioptron #longexpo #longexposure #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #photography #science #space #spacephotography #stargazing #stars #telescope #universe #zwocameras
Click to expand...
Excellent deep image. All of the distant galaxies in the background show up well in this image.
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
Great work, another beauty from an EdgeHD scope. Yes, it is very fun to se all the other 'faint fuzzies' out there that appear in images once you start going deep with your imaging like this. Lovely image!

ML
 
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