M51 · WHIRLPOOL GALAXY APR 2026
§ DEEP-SKY · TARGET
M51
Whirlpool Galaxy
- TYPE
- Spiral galaxy + companion
- CONSTELLATION
- Canes Venatici
- DISTANCE
- 23 Mly
- MAGNITUDE
- +8.4
- APPARENT SIZE
- 11' × 7'
ACQUISITION
DATE
Apr 2026
LOCATION
Columbus, OH · Bortle 5
INTEGRATION
~7h
PALETTE
Broadband
FILTERS
UV/IR cut
The textbook face-on spiral, tidally interacting with NGC 5195. The bridge of stars and gas between the two is visible in deep exposures.
§ 01 · PROCESSING
Workflow
- Stacked in PixInsight (WBPP) with calibration frames
- StarXTerminator star removal
- BlurXTerminator deconvolution
- NoiseXTerminator noise reduction
§ 02 · GEAR
Equipment
- SCOPE
- 3D-printed 150mm f/5 Newtonian astrograph
- CAMERA
- ASI533MC Pro
- MOUNT
- Proxisky Umis20s
- FILTERS
- UV/IR cut
- GUIDING
- SVBony 60mm guide scope · 22mm mini guide cam · PHD2