Messier 51: The Whirlpool Galaxy

Laci's image of the Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51) won ISSC's second biweekly Highlights. M51 sits over 25 million light-years away and ranks among the ten brightest galaxies visible from Earth's night sky. This image was captured from a Bortle 4 site in Hungary.

Equipment: a Sky-Watcher 150/750 with a ZWO EAF, ZWO ASIAIR, and a ZWO 120mm Mini Guide Camera, on a Sky-Watcher Wave 150i mount. Total exposure ran 5 hours, including 2 hours of H-alpha data.

The Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier, and remains one of the most studied spiral galaxies for its clearly defined arms and interacting companion galaxy.