Observation by David Davies: M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy

Uploaded by

David Davies

Observer

David Davies

Observed

2024 Apr 01 - 23:05

Uploaded

2024 Apr 10 - 08:07

Objects

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

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Constellation

Canes Venatici

Field centre

RA: 13^h29^m
Dec: +47°12'
Position angle: -2°21'

Field size

0°29' × 0°22'

Equipment

10-inch Ritchey-Chretien
ZWO ASI071MC Pro camera
SW EQ8 mount

Exposure

35 x 2-min

Location

Cambridge, UK

Target name

M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy

Title

M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy

About this image

The clouds cleared sufficiently on 1st April to dust off the telescope and check that everything was still working. I elected to have a go at M51, high overhead with minimum hazy clouds and atmospheric turbulence.

M51 was the first deep sky image I took back in 2010, and I really got excited about it. This galaxy was the subject of the cover photo of a textbook my dad bought me when I was 14. 'Guide to Stars' by Widman and Schutte was published in English in 1957 by the Scientific Book Guild of Beaverbrook Newspapers. The photo of M51 on the cover was a high-contrast, long-exposure outline of the galaxy, typical of film photos of the time.

This image is the first from my 10-inch RC after cleaning the mirror of the droppings of hibernating insects. I've modified the telescope by adding a mask to hide the edge of the mirror and mirror clips in the hope of producing cleaner star images.

Files associated with this observation

M51-web.jpg (1.4 MB)

Like this image

Callum Potter, Simon Paul Davis, Martin Lewis, Melvyn Joslin, Gerard Cauchi, Manolo_Rodriguez, Martina McGovern

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