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Messier 51 |
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 | Located in the constellation of Canes Venatici, the "hunting dogs", M51 consists of the large spiral galaxy NGC5194 and its smaller companion NGC5195. Hot, massive stars which recently formed in NGC5194 give the galaxy its bluish color. The reddish areas are nebulae in the galaxy in which stars are rapidly forming. M51 is approximately 31 million light-years away and over 65,000 light-years in diameter.
In a 8-inch scope at 81X, You can detect two fairly bright cores. The core of M51 will appear to be a little more diffuse than the core of the interacting galaxy NGC 5195. Around both of these cores, you can see some hint of structure and can make out generally circular shapes, but the spiral arms and/or dust lanes require good seeing conditions to pick out. |
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| You can find more information about this Messier object by visiting: SEDS - The Messier Catalog. |
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Whirlpool Galaxy M51 NGC 5194 Other description: Spiral galaxy structure attached companion. Constellation: Canes Venetici Dreyer description: A magnificent (or otherwise interesting) object!, great spiral nebula M51. Magnitude: 8.4 RA: 13h 30m 06.5s Dec: +47°10'45" RA: 13h 29m 54.0s Dec: +47°12'00" (Epoch 2000) Azm: 55°04'33" Alt: +34°11'48" Always above horizon. Transit: 20:14 Size: 9.0' x 8.0' |