Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4277  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy, Flemming Kristensen
Powered byPixInsight

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy, Flemming Kristensen
Powered byPixInsight

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Messier 51 is actually a pair of galaxies, NGC 5194 (M51) and the smaller NGC 5195, which are interacting gravitationally, or colliding. The interaction has caused markedly different changes in the two galaxies. The larger NGC 5194 is undergoing furious star formation in the spiral arms, causing them to appear blue, due to the many hot, blue young stars. Star formation in NGC 5195 has stopped because the galaxy has been stripped of its cold hydrogen gas, possibly by the collision, and its massive stars has gone supernova many millions of years ago, leaving only the low mass yellow and red stars behind. Most of its disk has been spread out in intergalactic space in long streamers of faint yellow stars easily seen in this image.
The galaxy pair is more than 30 million lightyears away.

Comments