M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy - 160402

Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy is a pair of intersecting galaxies with the smaller one appearing to be spiraling down the whirlpool drain of the larger one. A stunning galaxy visible under dark skies, this image brings out the wispy detail around the edges. This is a stack of 36 frames of ten-minute exposures captured with my 11" Edge HD and reducer with the Celestron Nightscape. The images where stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop.