M51: Whirlpool Galaxy

Imaged on 4/29/06
Scope: Takahashi MT160 Newtonian at F6
Mount: Losmandy G-11
Camera/Autoguider: SXV-H9c
Exposures: 17 x 5 minutes
Site: Ansa Borrego Desert
Temp: 54 degrees, light winds, good seeing

M51 is 15 million light years away and is an example of an interacting galaxy.

The smaller interacting companion galaxy is NGC5195.