M51 – The Wirlpool galaxy

DATA

M51 shines at mag 8.4 (decently bright) and spans 11 arc-minutes by 7 arc-minutes (rather large as far as galaxies go). The photos show M51 as it was 30 million years ago, which is the time it took for light to reach us.

  • M51 is close to the Big Dipper
  • Distance: cca. 30 mio ly

Thirty million years ago Antarctica was sliding South and getting its ice cap and continents were drifting towards their current position. That period is marked by a notable extinction event called the Grande Coupure; it featured the replacement of European fauna with Asian fauna, except for the endemic rodent and marsupial families. This guy was around:

The predatory South-American Terror Bird from 30 mio years ago

PHOTOS

710mm f/11.8, 20×1′, APS-C, EQ5

200mm f/2.8, APS-C

This is my very first deep-sky photo, shot in 2007 from the city through a window. I used a stock 350D on a EQ 3-2. Exposures were 30 seconds each, ISO 1600.

M51 – summer of 2007

Other photos