The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

• Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS (f/5 configuration)
• Optical Configuration: 0.72x Field Flattener & Reducer (f/5)
• Camera: Canon 60Da
• Single exposure
• Shutter Speed: 5 min.
• ISO: 800
• Processing: Photoshop CC
• Imaging Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains (Altitude: 8,600 ft.)

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is a Seyfert galaxy approximately 31 million light-years from Earth. Seyfert galaxies make up only about 10% of all galaxies and are thought to contain a supermassive black hole at their centers, giving them a very bright Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN).

In the past, it was thought that the Whirlpool Galaxy was actually two colliding galaxies in which the larger galaxy was swallowing up the smaller one. However, recent high-resolution images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope indicate that the two galaxies are proximate, but not materially involved. The smaller one, in fact, is farther away and moving behind the larger one from our perspective.

Bode's Galaxy (M81) & The Cigar Galaxy (M82)

• Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS (f/5 configuration)
• Optical Configuration: 0.72x Field Flattener & Reducer (f/5)
• Camera: Canon 60Da
• Single exposure
• Shutter Speed: 5 min.
• ISO: 800
• Processing: Photoshop CC
• Imaging Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains (Altitude: 8,600 ft.)

Bode’s Galaxy (M81), located to the upper right of center in the image, is a Seyfert galaxy approximately 12 million light-years from Earth. Seyfert galaxies make up only about 10% of all galaxies and are thought to contain a supermassive black hole at their centers, giving them a very bright Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN).

The Cigar Galaxy (M82), located to the lower left of center in the image, is a starburst galaxy, so-named because it is a hotbed of new star creation. M82 is also about 12 million light-years away and resembles a cigar with a red band, because we see it edge-on from our perspective. The red band is likely caused by hydrogen-alpha (H-alpha) radiant emission from hydrogen gas.

Both galaxies are part of the M81 system of galaxies grouped by mutual gravitational attraction.