Galaxies Collide - M51

[Colorado CJ]

Finally had a clear night last night (for a little while anyway), so I shot M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.

These are actually a pair of interacting galaxies, which are literally tearing each other apart. Located 37,000,000 light years from Earth, this galaxy is one of my favorites to photograph.

The first photo is uncropped, where you can see many other distant galaxies in the vicinity of M51. The second photo is a cropped, or "zoomed" in version.

Total imaging time for this image was just under 2 hours

140, 20 second Luminance images
135, 30 second RGB images

Not too bad for a light polluted suburban backyard

M51 1.9 hrs small by Colo CJ, on Flickr



M51 1.9 Hrs Crop by Colo CJ, on Flickr

 

[JimFox]

This is super cool Andrew! I really like the details on the arms and the nice juicy detail in the galaxy.

I am glad to see you had a clear night, and I am glad to have you posting. Following you on your journey is probably the biggest influence for me to say "Hey, maybe I could do that too as it looks like fun." So please keep the inspiration coming!

I have had my eyes on this one for a while now, though it seems like it would be too small for the reach of my setup at this time. I am also not sure since it's so small if I could pinpoint it with manual system I have now. But it's certainly one that I would love to track!

 

[Ben Egbert]

Really love this one. Maybe a side benefit of the stay at home rules will be cleaner sky's

 

[AlanLichty]

Beautiful sight to behold. Hope the clear skies hold out so we can see more like this

 

[Tony Liu]

Effin' brilliant CJ! Would love to get something like this one day!

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Super detail here CJ. The clear skies no doubt helped. The details are amazing.

 

[Mike Lewis]

One of the best targets out there for sure. On my list - not set up right now with the scope to do it justice. Great image - love color and detail!

ML

 

[Nilo Photography]

Excellent shot..breathtaking!