Whirlpool Galaxy (Jedadiah Ashford)

Whirlpool Galaxy

Hey stargazers, get ready to dive into a cosmic wonder! Let me introduce you to our galactic neighbor, the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51 or M51. It's not just any galaxy; it's a grand design spiral galaxy, the most pinwheel-like one you could imagine!

M51 is located in the hunting dogs constellation, Canes Venatici, and it's only about 23 million light-years away from us. Now, I know what you're thinking: "23 million light-years? That's not what I call a neighbor!" But in cosmic terms, it's just a quick hop, skip, and a superluminal jump away.

Let's go back in time to 1773. Charles Messier, a French astronomer with a serious case of comet fever, stumbled upon this galaxy while hunting for comets. He thought he found one, but oh boy, was he wrong! The "comet" turned out to be a dazzling spiral galaxy, the very first one of its kind to be discovered.

Now, one of the most fascinating things about the Whirlpool Galaxy is that it's not flying solo. It has a buddy, NGC 5195, a dwarf galaxy that it's interacting with. And by "interacting," I mean they're caught in a cosmic dance, pulling and stretching each other due to their mutual gravitational attraction. This interaction causes the Whirlpool Galaxy's spiral structure to be more pronounced, giving it an extra touch of grandeur.

And here's a fun fact: the Whirlpool Galaxy is also a hotbed for supernovae! It has hosted multiple supernova events in the past few decades, making it a real fireworks show on a cosmic scale.

So, there you have it! The Whirlpool Galaxy: a celestial spectacle, a cosmic dance floor, and an interstellar fireworks display, all rolled into one. Enjoy this visual treat, brought to you from the vastness of the universe to your screen, courtesy of the wonders of astrophotography!

Sun came up before green and red got great subs so tossed some. I'll clean this up another time.

Original
Final
B

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Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
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Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
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Own remote observatory
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Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
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Unknown

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	7630799
PixInsight job	ZB65BAJDQ2WYQ0FW8XF2FKLFGYP77XC6
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	13h29m48s.519
RA (top/left)	13h29m34s.430
RA (top/right)	13h28m30s.186
RA (bottom/right)	13h30m02s.933
RA (bottom/left)	13h31m07s.160

Dec (center)	+47°13′39″.77
Dec (top/left)	+47°27′00″.50
Dec (top/right)	+47°11′02″.55
Dec (bottom/right)	+47°00′19″.20
Dec (bottom/left)	+47°16′13″.91

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