Object:	M51: Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici RA = 13h 29 min 53 sec; Dec = +47 deg 11 min
Date & Site:	Imaged on 3/05/11; Little Blair Valley
Equipment:	Telescope:Vixen R200SS 8" Newtonian (800 mm F 4) Baader MPCC Coma Corrector Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini Camera: ST-10XME; CFW10 with Astrodon filters
Notes:	Conditions: 43 degrees; calm, good seeing Exposures: 270 min Lum (18 x 10 min subs); 30 min each RGB (6 x 5 min subs unbinned) FOV = 38 x 26 arc minutes (cropped from original) M51 is an example of an interacting galaxy, shown here with NGC5195 (yellowish eliptical galaxy) . Recent supernova data place M51 at 23 million light years distant. Recent simulations bear out that M51's spiral structure was caused by NGC 5195 passing through the main disk of M51 about 500 to 600 million years ago.