The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is one of my favorite objects to view. This is my first attempt at imaging M51. I took 60 exposures at 120 seconds each with camera temp set to -10 dec C. I also used darks, biases, and flats. This is only my third time imaging while tracking using PHD2 and Lodestar camera attached to Stellarvue 90mm guide scope.
I used SGPro to control the camera, perform focusing, and grade each image. I then used Images Plus to do the stacking and image processing.
You can see both M51 and the spiral galaxy NGC 5195. Although it appears that they are touching, NGC 5195 is actually behind M51 after passing by M51 70 million years ago.
