The Whirlpool Galaxy – M51 or NGC 5194 is a well-defined interacting spiral galaxy first discovered by Charles Messier in 1773 during his famous hunts on targets he did not want to see. M51 lies in the constellation of Canes Venatici at a distance of 31-million Ly away.
M51 has been extensively studied to understand galaxy structure and the structure of the spiralling arms and galaxy interactions. M51 has a companion galaxy NGC 5195 which was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 but at the time it wasn’t known if the galaxies were interacting, or a galaxy passing at a distance.
William Parsons in 1845, using his 72inch reflecting telescope found that the Whirlpool galaxy had a spiral structure, but at the time this was still thought to be a Nebula. It was not until Edwin Hubble proposed these distant ‘nebulae’ were separate galaxies (Hubble 1929)
The invention of Radio Astronomy unequivocally confirmed that the whirlpool and its companion galaxy are interacting, changing the messier listing slightly to be M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195) but these objects are known as M51 collectively.
M51 has been extensively studied to understand galaxy structure and the structure of the spiralling arms and galaxy interactions. M51 has a companion galaxy NGC 5195 which was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 but at the time it wasn’t known if the galaxies were interacting, or a galaxy passing at a distance.
William Parsons in 1845, using his 72inch reflecting telescope found that the Whirlpool galaxy had a spiral structure, but at the time this was still thought to be a Nebula. It was not until Edwin Hubble proposed these distant ‘nebulae’ were separate galaxies (Hubble 1929)
The invention of Radio Astronomy unequivocally confirmed that the whirlpool and its companion galaxy are interacting, changing the messier listing slightly to be M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195) but these objects are known as M51 collectively.
The above images were taken at 3 hours and 9 hours with two different cameras. The bottom right was my Original 178mc non-cooled camera for 3 hours at 120-sec exposure with no filters. You can see the amp glow in the corner even after cropping the picture down. But this was one of my first attempts at this galaxy and processed with GIMP.
The other three were taken with my 533MC Pro at 3hours and 9hours exposures, 180-sec exposure timings and UV/IR filter. You can see the difference in the stars with the 533 and a filter compared with the 178 with no filter.
In all three you can also clearly see small faint galaxies to the left of M51, with the top left picture being left cropped to leave them both in.
This object is Circumpolar (never sets) and is viewable all year round. It is viewable through binoculars at a dark site and detailed viewing is possible with most modern telescopes. Astrophotography only requires a smaller telescope but with the 72ed and 533mc, the galaxy was quite small, leading to the pictures needing cropping to fill the picture.
The other three were taken with my 533MC Pro at 3hours and 9hours exposures, 180-sec exposure timings and UV/IR filter. You can see the difference in the stars with the 533 and a filter compared with the 178 with no filter.
In all three you can also clearly see small faint galaxies to the left of M51, with the top left picture being left cropped to leave them both in.
This object is Circumpolar (never sets) and is viewable all year round. It is viewable through binoculars at a dark site and detailed viewing is possible with most modern telescopes. Astrophotography only requires a smaller telescope but with the 72ed and 533mc, the galaxy was quite small, leading to the pictures needing cropping to fill the picture.