wide field astrophotography
The face-on spiral Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194) and its companion dwarf galaxy M51b (NGC 5195) are located approximately 31 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici.
While somewhat smaller than our own Milky Way Galaxy, the Whirlpool is estimated to contain approximately 80 billion stars.
Camera: ASI2600MC | Scope: 61mm WO Zenithstar 61 | Exposure: 2h 7m | Date: 2023-05-11 & 2023-05-25
This final composition includes image data captured over two nights (May 11 & 25, 2023) from Bortle Class 5 skies (Owen Sound)
Image with astrometric annotations
