M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
M51 consists of the large spiral galaxy NGC 5194 and its smaller companion NGC 5195. Hot, massive stars which recently formed in NGC 5194 give the galaxy its bluish color. The reddish areas are nebulae in the galaxy in which stars are rapidly forming. M51 is approximately 31 million light years away and over 65,000 light years in diameter. The image shown is only one sixteenth of the entire field of view of the Mosaic I instrument on the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope.
| Observatory: | WIYN Observatory Kitt Peak, Arizona |
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| Telescope: | WIYN 0.9-Meter |
| Instrument: | Mosaic I |
| Astronomer: | T.A. Rector & M. Ramirez (NOAO/AURA/NSF) |
| Date of Observation: | 06-15-2000 |
| Filters and Assigned Colors: | B (blue), V (green), R (orange), I (red) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) |
| Exposure Times: | 5x5 minutes in each optical filter |
| Location of Image: | Canes Venatici |
| Field of View: | 14 x 14 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is up and East is to the left |
| Link to Larger Image | |
| Link to Full Resolution Image | |
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