Messier 51, also known as the Whirpool Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is located 23.5 million light years from Earth and is 76,900 light years in diameter, making it about 88% the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The galaxy has a smaller companion, NGC 5195, which may have passed through Messier 51 about 500 to 600 million years ago.
I managed to find some clear skies just a week before I lost astronomical darkness up here at 63 degrees north and I also was able to use my broadband filters to add to the data I gathered more than a year ago on the Whirpool Galaxy. Using my very limited 510 mm focal length it was a challenge to produce and image that would actually show the galaxy.
Astro Photographer in the High Coast of Sweden
Astro Photographer in the High Coast of Sweden
Astro Photographer in the High Coast of Sweden
Whirpool Galaxy LRGB processing
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