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M51


Object:

M51: Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici

RA = 13h 29 min 53 sec; Dec = +47 deg 11 min

Date & Site:

Imaged on 4/13/18; Little Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA

Conditions: temps in the low 40's; calm; average seeing.

Equipment:

Telescope: DSI RC10c; 1867 mm at f/7.3

Guider: Hutech OAG-5 with SBIG STi

Mount: AP1100 CP3GOTO
Camera: FLI 6303E; CFW 2-7; Astrodon LRGB Gen II filters

Notes:

Exposures: 90 minutes of Lum (10 min subs) and 60 min each of RGB (10 min subs) for a total of 4 hrs 30 min.

Located 23 million light years away

M51 is an example of an interacting galaxy, shown here with NGC5195 (smaller galaxy; upper right) . Recent supernova data place M51 at 23 million light years distant. Hubble images show NGC5195 to be tugging the arm of M51 generating strong tital forces sufficient to initate star birth. NGC 5195 has been passing behind the spiral arms of M51 for several hundred million years..

FOV = 30.1 x 20.1 arc minutes

Image reduced to 60% of original size.

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