wide field astrophotography
The face-on spiral Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194) and its companion dwarf galaxy M51b (NGC 5195) are located approximately 25 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. The two galaxies are connected by a dust-rich tidal bridge.
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 37m | Image date: 2023-05-11 & 2023-05-25 (reprocessed cropped version 2024-07-19)
Also seen in the image is the Barred Spiral Galaxy IC 4263 located about 130 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Camera: ASI2600MC | Scope: 61mm WO Zenithstar 61 | Exposure: 2h 37m | Image date: 2023-05-11 & 2023-05-25 (reprocessed 2024-07-19)
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
