SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
ccrum
Location of Photo:
San Carlos, California
Date/Time of photo:
April 2022
Equipment:
Planewave CDK12.5, ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro, Astrodon LRGB Gen2 E-Series
Description:
Like a whirlpool in the ocean, the Whirlpool Galaxy drags unsuspecting victims, such as NGC 5195 (the brown galaxy to the left), to their final resting place within the blue folds of its spiral arms. However, such violent gravitational interactions do not leave M51 unscarred, as evidenced by the abundance of ionized hydrogen regions and faint tidal streams.