Messier 51, the “Whirlpool” galaxy”: a close-up image – 4 Mar. 2025
We imaged the iconic Messier 51, nicknamed the “Whirlpool” galaxy, because of its outstanding spiral design. Here we present our most detailed image ever of this object.
Messier 51 (NGC 5194) and its companion NGC 5195. 5 April 2025.
The image above comes from the average of 17, 300-second unguided exposures, remotely taken with the C14+Paramount ME+ST-10XME robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project facility in Manciano, Italy, under the darkest skies of the Italian peninsula. A 58% Moon was about 35 deg. high on the Western horizon.
Messier 51 (NGC 5194) is a gorgeous galaxy, it was discovered by Charles_Messier in 1773 and it is placed at about 30 million lights years from us. In 1845, William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse, Ireland, using a 1.8 m large telescope – the largest telescope in the world from 1845 to 1917 – discovered that the object liked like a spiral, the first nebula to be reveal shows a shape.
Messier 51 is clearly interacting with its companion, the galaxy NGC 5195. This is one of the most studied interacting systems in the sky. The images shows very fine details, with plenty of faint galaxies all around, in the background.
In 2011, M 51 hosted the important supernova SN 2011dh, wich we covered pretty well at that time.
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