Michael A. Stecker
mastecker@gmail.com



 
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Cropped image of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) with H-alpha data
version 1
file: M51asi6200mcCOL565minCROP2&HA270min2A-1cramr1.jpg
 The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51 or NGC 5194) is an interacting spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, 23.5 million light-years away, 76,900 ly in diameter and with an estimated age of only 400 million years. Overall, the galaxy is about 88% the size of our Milky Way. Some astronomers think that the Whirlpool’s arms are particularly prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the arms. This is a joint project of James Foster and me using my Celestron 11-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope (black tube) at f/7 with a 13.9-hour exposure (full color plus H-alpha). The image was cropped.
 file: M51asi6200mcCOL565minCROP2&HA270min2A-1cramr1.jpg
 Click here for full resolution photo

Photographic Data
 Date:
several nights before July 17, 2024

 telescope:
Celestron 11-inch SCT (black tube) with Starizona 0.7X focal reducer
Focal Length: 1955 mm
 
mount:
Astro-Physics 1200 GTO

guiding:
off-axis
imaging cameras:
ZWO ASI6200MC-Pro (color) and ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro (monochrome)

exposure:
color camera: 300 seconds X 113, monochrome H-alpha camera: 300 seconds X 54
total exposure time: 875 minutes (13.9 hours)

processing
Maxim-DL, ASI Studio and Adobe Photoshop Elemets

photographic site:
Pinon Pines Estates (Frazier Park California)
(Bortle 4 at 5,500 ft elevation)


M51 widefield view from C-11 at f/7, below
 
Widefield image of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy)
 file: M51asi6200mcCOL565minCROP2&HA270min2A-1amr1sm.jpg
 Click here for full resolution photo
 
 
 

Cropped image of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) with H-alpha data
version 2
file: M51asi6200mcCOL565minCROP2&HA270min2A-1cramr2.jpg
Click here for full resolution photo
 
 
 
 
Earlier M51 photo without H-alpha data

Earlier shorter exposure C-11 cropped photo of M51 without H-alpha data
file: M51masC11_380min2A-1crbGxGRd6asm.jpg