M51 is a spiral galaxy interacting with a companion galaxy, NGC 5195. This galaxy pair is unique because is an impressive target to observe visually with a telescope, even in moderately light polluted skies; and in dark skies can be seen with the naked eye or binoculars.
This is the first deep space image I ever took. The enormous amount of exposure time was able to compensate for some relatively poor quality subframes due to inexperience and lack of equipment. The exposures were limited to 45 seconds because they were unguided.
Processing
Stacking was done in Siril because it’s a quick stacker, and then further processing with PixInsight utilizing the RC Astro plugins.
Technical Card
Mount: Celestron AVX
Camera(s): Cannon Rebel T2i
OTA: Celestron C8 SCT with 6.3 reducer
Filters: Optolong L-eNhance
Exposure: 1500 Lights @ 45 seconds
Annotated Image
List of distances for the annotated galaxies that I was able to find.
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy – 23.5Mly
NGC 5195 – 25 Mly
IC 4277 – Not Measured
IC 4278 – 245 Mly
IC 4263 – 140 Mly
PGC2286797 – 110Mly
PGC2289565 – 1.1Bly
PGC2294282 – 1.6 Bly
PGC2297248 – Not Measured
PGC2297311 – Not Measured
PGC2300341 – 900Mly
PCG2292105 – Not Measured
PGC2287260 – 900Mly
PCG2287732 – Not Measured
It is amazing to me that it is possible to capture galaxies over a billion light years away with a consumer grade telescope and camera.
Sweetman Astrophotography 