SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Jon Greif
Location of Photo:
Texas Star Party, Ft. Davis, TX, USA
Date/Time of photo:
April 21 - 23, 2025, between 9 pm and 3 am MDT
Equipment:
SeeStar S50 Smart Telescope. Processed in Pixinsight.
Description:
We're at the Texas Star Party in the Big Bend area of Texas, near the MacDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, under pristine (Bortle 1) night skies. This is the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, and its interacting companion, NGC 5195, imaged with five hours of exposure time over two nights with our ultraportable SeeStar S50 telescope. It is 31 million light years away and 76,900 light years in diameter. The Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered on October 13, 1773, by Charles Messier while hunting for objects that could confuse comet hunters, and was designated in his catalogue as M51.
