| Names | Whirlpool Galaxy, Messier 51, NGC 5194, Arp 85 |
|---|---|
| Type | Galaxy |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Distance | ≈ 25 million ly |
| Magnitude | 8.4 |
| Size | 9′ × 7.8′ |
| RA | 13h 29m 52.7s |
| Dec | +47° 11′ 43″ |
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.1
I had about 3 hours of data on this but with a couple of clear nights recently at the end of the season I was able to add just over 3 hours per night extra.
Photo Details
| Telescope | Seestar S50 (250 mm f/5) |
| Dates | 2024-02-01, 2024-02-08, 2024-12-14, 2025-01-10, 2026-04-06, 2026-04-07 |
| Integration time | 9h 11m 30s |