#ngc5195

•The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)•

Distance: 31,000,000ly

Constellation: Canes Venatici

Equipment: Seestar S50

A face-on, grand design spiral galaxy interacting with a nearby dwarf Galaxy, the Whirlpool Galaxy is a favorite target visible year-round in the northern latitudes. Also just visible in the upper right of the image is the distant edge-on spiral galaxy IC4263, located approximately 131 billion light years from Earth. Probably my favorite galaxy. 💙

M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, NGC5194/5195

The spiral galaxy M51,  (the Whirlpool Galaxy) observed with the ODI camera on the WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, May 2013.   Even though the galaxy is almost 30 million light years away, the image clearly shows clusters of young, hot stars that light up the spiral arms.  Threaded through the arms are dark “dust lanes”, where sooty material left over from previous generations of stars has settled.  More dust lanes can be seen in the bridge of luminous stars and gas that connects Messier 51 to its companion, the peculiar galaxy NGC 5195, in the upper part of the image.

credit line: K. Rhode, M. Young and WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF 

M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, NGC5194/5195

This image of M51 (NGC5194/5195), was made by combining three CCD frames, taken at the Kitt Peak 0.9m telescope in 1991.  By using different filters in front of the monochrome detector, corresponding approximately to the primary colors red, green and blue, it is possible to recreate a true color picture. Each image was processed to correct for detector sensitivity variations and to remove incorrect regions caused by manufacturing defects and by the arrival of cosmic rays at the telescope. Note that this image was reworked in July 2000 to provide a better looking and scientifically more accurate color balance.

This picture was made using the `drift scan' technique, in which the telescope is held fixed, not tracking against the Earth's rotation in the usual manner. As the sky passes across the detector, each row of the array is `clocked' along to the next row in step with the apparent motion of the astronomical image. This makes it possible to take a picture of an arbitrarily long strip of the sky, and specialized telescopes exist solely to take advantage of the simplicity of a fixed, non-tracking mounting. The large size of the M51 system, famous as the first clearly recognized spiral nebula, made it necessary to use the drift scan technique. Orientation: N to the left, E down. 

credit line: Todd Boroson/NOAO/AURA/NSF 

M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, NGC5194/5195

The Whirlpool Nebula in the constellation Canes Venatici was the first in which spiral structure was clearly seen. It is actually a pair of interacting galaxies. Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1975

credit line: NOAO/AURA/NSF 

NGC 5195

NGC 5195 is a dwarf galaxy located about 30 million light years away towards the constellation Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. It is the companion to the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, a much larger spiral galaxy. NGC 5195 only spans 20,000 light years.

NGC 5195 is passing behind the Whirlpool galaxy. As it glides by, its gravity pulls at the larger galaxy, generating waves that compress gas in the spiral arms. This triggers star formation in the galaxy. Some of the gas and stars from the Whirlpool galaxy stretch out in a tidal tail towards NGC 5195, visible in this image.

NGC 5195

NGC 5195 is a dwarf galaxy located about 30 million light years away towards the constellation of the Hunting Dogs. It is a companion galaxy to NGC 5194, also known as M51, a spiral galaxy popularly called the Whirlpool Galaxy. NGC 5195 stretches about 20,000 light years across, much smaller than M51.

Star formation in the region and that of M51 was probably triggered by a close interaction of the two. It is also likely this interaction enhanced M51 noticeable spiral arms. NGC 5195 is located behind M51, a distinction made clear by this close up image. Also visible on the lower right is a bridge of dust and young blue star clusters reaching from M51 into the frame.