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M51
Messier 51
Whirlpool Galaxy
Spiral Galaxy11
| Right Ascension | 13h 29m 54s | Best Seen | 4/1-10/1 |
| Declination | 47° 12' 00" | Magnitude | 8.4 |
| Constellation | Canis Venatici | ||
Actual |
Compared to Milky Way |
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| Distance | 37 million ly | -- |
| Actual Brightness | 10 billions suns | -- |
| Diameter | 100,000 ly | ~2.6 |
| Mass | 60 billion suns | -- |
| Galactic Type | Sc | Sbc |
What To Look For Through The Telescope
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Recommended eyepiece: 40mm or 80 mm.
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When people look through the telescope they should see a fuzzy patch of light. This is the galaxy. If they are having trouble seeing it, have them look at a star near the edge of the field and then look back to the center out of the corner of their eye.
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The view through the telescope will not look like photographs of galaxies. A photograph of a galaxy may have an exposure of many hours. This long exposure brings out spiral arms and other details. Our eyes allow the light to collect for only about 1/30 of a second before they refresh themselves and start over again.
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This galaxy is “face-on.” As a result visitors may be able to see some spiral structure. The companion to the main galaxy can also be seen.
M51 Information
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A companion galaxy happens to be passing near the large spiral at this point in time. As a result of the passage, one of the arms is mis-shaped. This cannot be seen in the telescope but can be easily seen in the photograph.
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This galaxy is also called the Whirlpool galaxy.
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Charles Messier discovered this galaxy in 1773. His friend discovered the companion galaxy in 1781.
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This galaxy was the first to be recognized as having spiral structure, thanks to a very accurate and careful painting made by Lord Rosse in 1845.
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References
| Item | Updated | Notes |
| Coordinates | 2002-12-19 | http://messier.seds.org/m/m051.html |
| Magnitude | 2002-12-19 | OK with seds site |
| Distance | 2002-12-19 | OK with seds site |
| Actual Brightness | 2002-12-19 | !! Can find no support for this |
| Diameter | 2002-12-19 | previously said 260,000 ly, but could only find info at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010410.html |
| Mass | 2002-12-19 | !! Can find no support for this, but looks OK |
| Galactic Type | 2002-12-19 | OK with seds site |
| Other Information | 2002-12-19 | lots from seds site http://messier.seds.org/m/m051.html |