Type: Grand Design Seyfert 2 Spiral

Constellation: Canes Venatici

Distance from Earth: 31 million light-years

About:  Located just outside the Big Dipper, M51 is easy to locate and can be seen with 10 x 50 binoculars. In this image you can see the smaller galaxy NGC 5195 that is colliding with the larger galaxy, giving the illusion that the smaller galaxy is being pulled into the “whirlpool” of the larger. 

Imaging Project Information: 

Imaging Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 SCT

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro 

Mount: iOptron CEM60

Guiding: Celestron OAG with ZWO ASI174MM Mini

Filters and Frames: Antlia V Pro LRGB and Edge Hydrogen-Alpha 4.5nm Filter:

H-Alpha – 31 x 600s (May 17) Gain 100, Bin 2×2

Lum – 13 x 600s (May 12, May 14) Gain 0, Bin 2×2

Red – 18 x 300s (May 14, May 17) Gain 0, Bin 2×2

Green – 21 x 300s (May 12, May 14, May 17) Gain 0, Bin 2×2

Blue – 17 x 300s (May 12, May 14, May 17) Gain 0, Bin 2×2

Accessories: Primalucelab Essato 2″ LP Focuser · Primalucelab Giotto Flat Calibrator · ZWO 8 x 1.25″” Electronic Filter Wheel (EFW) · Pegasus Astro Uranus Meteo Weather Station · Celestron 0.7x reducer

Software: Acquisition – N.I.N.A

Preprocessing: Pleiades Astro Pixinsight: Drizzle x 2 Integration Postprocessing:  Pleiades Astro Pixinsight, Adobe Photoshop

Acquisition Period: May 12, 14, 17, 2024 

Total Integration: 12hr