Last night was supposed to be a "bad seeing" conditions night. Out of three hours of capturing light from the M51a Whirlpool Galaxy, I got at least two hours of great light frames (3 minutes exposure each).
According to NASA, the Whirlpool Galaxy was "discovered by Charles Messier in 1773. M51 is located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici". The Whirlpool galaxy is estimated to be about 88% the size of our own Milky Way galaxy, with it's mass estimated to be 160 billion solar masses. On one of it's outer arms, is another galaxy named NGC 5195. They are interacting with each other.
I got to also capture some videos of the Moon that I stacked in post-processing. On May 1st 2023, it was at 87% illumination in the Waxing Gibbous phase. I also got a close up of the moon in the southern hemisphere. You can see an elongated crater in the upper right, called the Schiller crater. It is about 43miles wide and 111 miles long.
An amazing and surprising night. Looking forward to more. Clear skies!
What are your thoughts? What pictures to you enjoy the most - Our Solar System, Galaxies, or Nebulas? Comment below!
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
of the Moon's near side. Located in upper right side.
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