Back to gallery

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy - HII Area Enhanced

www.starkeeper.it/M51HA.htm

 

Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl until you get to the handle's last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier 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 (top), 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 human eye, deep images like this one can reveal the faint tidal debris around the smaller galaxy. [Text adapted from APOD]

 

Optics: GSO RC 10" F8 2000mm - Astrograph Ritchie-Chrétien

Mount: AP Mach1 GTO on Gemini Q-Lock tripod

Camera: QSI-640WSG / ATIK 4000LE

Filters: Astrodon L 1.25" I Series Gen II - HA 5nm / Baader 2" LRGB

Guiding Systems: SXV-AO-LF Active Optics - SX Lodestar

Dates/Times: 7 April 2011 - 3 May 2013 - 8-12 February 2015

Location: Pragelato / Pian dell'Armà (Italy)

Exposure Details: L:H:R:G:B => 530:240:50:40:50 = > (53x10):(8x30):(5x10):(4x10):(5x10) color Bin2 [num x minutes]

Cooling Details: -20 / -35 °C

Acquisition: Maxim DL/CCD, TheSkyX, Voyager

Processing: CCDStack2+, PS CS5

Mean FWHM: 2.38" / 1.98" / 1.54"

SQM-L: 21.24 / 21.32 / 20.12

 

9,736 views
155 faves
30 comments
Uploaded on April 6, 2015