SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Steve Leonard
Location of Photo:
Markham, ON, Canada
Date/Time of photo:
2022/04/04
Equipment:
Astro Tech AT115EDT, ASI1600MM, Astrodon LRGB filters
Description:
This image shows the beautiful and colourful Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a, aka NGC 5194) interacting with its companion dwarf galaxy (M51b, aka NGC 5195). The Whirlpool Galaxy is a great example of a grand design spiral galaxy, with striking long spiral arms of dust and gas, interspersed with glowing blue regions with young stars and magenta regions where new stars are being born. This galaxy has a Seyfert 2 core that is highly luminous due to accretion of stellar material into a central supermassive black hole. The compact dwarf galaxy (NGC 5195), glowing yellow and orange with old stars, has been interacting with M51 for hundreds of millions of years, and is thought to have passed through the main disk of M51 more than once, distorting its spiral arms. Hubble images have shown that NGC 5195 currently resides behind M51. Shot in Bortle 8/9 skies with a 6 hour integration.
