Whilpool Galaxy (M51)
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. It is 31 million light-years away and 76,900 ly in diameter.
This image is a classical LRGB with Ha combined with R channel. North is at 3 o’clock.
The same object was imaged with my short focal length setup. The image can be found here.
[description from wikipedia]
Details
Telescope:
RCOS 14.5″ f/8
Mount:
ASA DDM85
Camera:
Andor U16M
Filters:
Astrodon Gen2
Exposure:
L(HaR)GB 780:(920:280):260:220 min.
Location:
ROSA Remote Observatories Southern Alps
Author:
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.
“Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”.
Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion. 