Here is M51 in Canes Venatici. This large face-on spiral galaxy is interacting with a companion galaxy, NGC5195, which is passing behind it. These galaxies are about 35 million light years away.
I processed this image to show the clouds of stars pulled loose by the galaxies' interaction. Look closely near the bottom of the image to see the faint stream looping between the two galaxies.
| Exposure |
• 10⅓ hours over four nights (62 X 10 minutes) @ -20°C • Dusk flats • Camera position angle: 270° |
| Processing |
• With PixInsight: ☞ Calibrate, star-align, and integrate subframes ☞ Crop to eliminate extraneous surrounding areas ☞ Histogram transformation ☞ Process for high dynamic range • Noise reduction with Topaz Photo AI • Final tweaking and sizing in Photoshop CS6 |
| Date and Location |
• four nights in 2023: May 10, 11, 18, & 22 • Louisa County, Virginia, USA |
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Equipment |
• TMB-130SS APO refractor @ f/7 on an A-P 1200 mount • ZWO ASI-1600MC Pro color camera • Guided with a ZWO ASI-120M camera on a 60mm f/5 scope • Imaging and autoguiding with MaxIm DL 6.20 • Automated image acquisition with ACP Observatory Control |
Updated May 28, 2023