SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Peter Hannah
Location of Photo:
IC Astronomy, Oria, Spain
Date/Time of photo:
2024
Equipment:
Planewave CDK14, 10Micron GM2000 mount, FLI P9000 CCD camera, Astrodon LRGB and 3nm H-α filters
Description:
Discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier, M51 was first observed in detail in 1845 by William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, with his 72″ reflecting telescope at Birr Castle in Ireland. The famous pair of galaxies in Canes Venatici appear here in a deep image which shows the tidal tails of gas and dust pulled from each galaxy during their gravitational interaction. To the left of NGC5195 is a very distant edge-on galaxy, IC4277, glowing at magnitude 15.7. Total exposure times were 7 hours Lum, 12 hours RGB and 6.5 hours H-α. Processed in PixInsight.
