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M51, a beautiful spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici is about 35 million light years distant and is
estimated to be about 100,000 light years in diameter. M51 consists of
the main galaxy, NGC 5194, and a satellite galaxy, NGC 5195, that is connected via one of the
spiral arms of the main galaxy. Both together are also cataloged as
ARP 85, part of Halton Arp's peculiar galaxy catalog. In urban skies, both galactic cores
are visible through a moderate aperture telescope. From dark sky, the spiral arm detail and dust lanes begin
to be visible. Because of the gravitational stirring that takes place
between these two galaxies, M51 is a galaxy of active star birth. The
knots of brighter areas in the spiral arms are star nurseries where new
stars are being born. Narrow band mages filtered for hydrogen alpha
light show these regions as red knots interspersed in the spiral arms.
Directly below the NGC 5195 is the irregular galaxy IC 4278. Below and
left of NGC 5195 is the edge on spiral galaxy IC 4277. Both of these
galaxies are much more distant than M51.
Back to Messier Gallery
Date: 5/12/2007
Location:
CRO
Telescope: LX200 10" SCT, f/10
Mount: AP-1200
Camera: Hutech modified
Canon 350D, ISO 800
Exposure Count: 29 @ 5 minutes, 2 hours, 25 minutes total
exposure.
Guiding: CCD Soft with ST402ME, Orion 80ED
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Post Processing: |
ImagesPlus: Dark and flat calibration, align and
combine, digital development
Photoshop CS2: Smart sharpen, levels, curves
NeatImage: Noise reduction
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