Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy is a pair of intersecting galaxies with the smaller one appearing to be spiraling down the whirlpool drain of the larger one. A stunning galaxy visible under dark skies, this image brings out the wispy detail around the edges. This is a stack of 36 frames of ten-minute exposures captured with my 11" Edge HD and reducer with the Celestron Nightscape. The images where stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop with an intermediate step in StarTools for noise reduction.

Image Center:	View full size annotated image.
Right Ascension:	13h 29m 51.061s (202° 27m 45.910s)
Declination:	+47° 12m 47.139s
Orientation:	Up is 3.1 degrees West of North.
Image Size:	31.545' x 23.827'	Pixel Scale:	0.503"

Principal objects in field: M 51, NGC 5194, NGC 5195, Whirlpool galaxy

All identified catalog objects: IC 4277, IC 4278, IC 4282, NGC 5194, NGC 5195