M51

Whirlpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51 and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.

The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195 are easily observed by amateur astronomers and the two galaxies may be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy has been extensively observed by professional astronomers, who study it to understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

Acquisition Details


  • Date: March 22nd - 2020
  • Integration Time: 4.7 hrs
  • Telescope: TS Photoline 102/715 f7
  • Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-Synscan Go-To
  • Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-c
  • Filters: LRGB

Acquisition Details

My latest capture of M51 is done with my TS Photoline 130/910 at f5.5 with reducer/flattener. I was curious about the difference with my previous capture last year with the smaller version of this telescope, the TS 120/715. I'm quite happy with the result, of course my processing skills have also improved. I've tried to enhance the red channel with the H-alpha data and therefore I used this Light Vortex tutorial. Stacking was done in APP and processing in PixInsight. Annotation in Affinity Photo.


  • Date: April 15th - 2021
  • Integration Time: 5.55 hrs
  • Telescope: TS Photoline 130/910 at f5.5
  • Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-Synscan Go-To
  • Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-c
  • Filters: Ha 21x180", L 67x120", R 46x60", G 47x60", B 43x60"

Crop of M51 image.

Version of March 2022. TS130/910 at f7 and QHY168C.

Cropped version of the image from above, but here I added some H-Alpha data of previous year.