An impressive pair of interacting galaxies, M51 is ranked 51st in Charles Messier's famous Messier Catalog. Once classified as a spiral nebula, it has since been upgraded to a spiral galaxy and is notable for its swirl-like structure. The large galaxy in the central position is also known as NGC 5194.

The spiral arms and dust lanes of NGC 5194 provide a visual feast as it passes in front of its smaller neighbor NGC 5195. At a distance of about 31 million light-years, M51 is located in the constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Latin: Canes Venatici). The system is faint and blurry when viewed through a telescope, but deep space photography reveals its striking colors and subtle tidal structure.

The M51 galaxy system was studied with narrowband data to show in detail the recently discovered large, reddish clouds of ionized hydrogen gas (H-alpha cliffs). The Milky Way's foreground dust clouds and distant galaxies in the background are also clearly visible in this impressive image. The image was created over a three-week exposure period and reveals the fascinating details of the galaxy pair.

December 13, 2024 Astronomy Photo of the Day (NASA APOD)

 

Image Source & Copyright:

The Deep Sky Collective - Tim Schaeffer, Carl Björk, Steeve Body, Fabian Neyer, Aki Jain, Ryan Wierckx, Paul Kent, Brian Valente, Antoine & Dalia Grelin, Nicolas Puig, Stephen Guberski, Mike Hamende, Julian Shapiro, John Dziuba, Mikhail Vasilev, Bogdan Borz, Adrien Keijzer