This is Messier object 51, the Whirlpool galaxy. On May 4th the sky was near perfect here for astrophotography and I managed this capture of M51. It is a combination of 20 light images and 3 darks registered and stacked in DeepSkyStacker. The expousures ranged from 90secs each to 7 minutes. ISOs from 400 to 1250. This little guy is an entire galaxy similar to our own Milkyway galaxy. It lies a stagggering 37,000,000 light years away, yep 37 million LY. It is located just about 3 degrees NW from Alkaid, the end of the big dippers handle star. M51s companion galaxy is next to it and known as NCG 5195. This is by far the best luck I've had imaging with the telescope, so many factors are in play, it is not an easy task to get decent images. Thanks for looking. Don
