Perspectives

The Whirlpool Galaxy (NGC 5194) (aka Messier 51) is a spiral galaxy that is interacting with its smaller companion (NGC 5195). While the central globular structure is observable with small telescopes and binoculars, there is also an extensive nebula associated with these galaxies that is only observable with CCD images, as in this case. Discovered in 1773, M51 is located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This image was acquired as a series of 34 5-minute exposures (2.8 hours) using red, green, and blue filters. The telescope was a Planewave 20” corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph, f/4.5 on a Planewave Ascension 200HR mount situated in New Mexico. The camera was a FLI ProLine PL11002M CCD, with Astrodon filters. The images were processed using PixInsight, Photoshop, and Topaz Labs Adjust AI and DeNoise AI.