Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4263  ·  IC 4277  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
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M51, Jerry Gerber
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M51

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M51, Jerry Gerber
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M51

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Description

The most famous and frequently photographed of galaxies except perhaps M31, M51 is about 30 million light years away and appears to be gravitationally merging with a smaller galaxy.   When the photons our cameras capture left this galaxy, the modern type of mammals were beginning to appear and the reign of the dinosaurs was long over.

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M51, Jerry Gerber