Whirlpool Galalxy

[jaspalchadha]

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is relatively close to Earth — about 30 million light-years away. It is visible in the northern constellation Canes Venatici, just southeast of the Big Dipper

The Whirlpool's most striking feature is its two curving arms, a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies. Many spiral galaxies possess numerous, loosely shaped arms that make their spiral structure less pronounced. These arms serve an important purpose in spiral galaxies. They are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars. In the Whirlpool, the assembly line begins with the dark clouds of gas on the inner edge, then moves to bright pink star-forming regions, and ends with the brilliant blue star clusters along the outer edge.

Image details

RGB 8 x 10 min each filter

LUM 16 x 10 min

Ha 4 x 30min each

Location: London UK

Date of Shoot 25th 27th 21st March 15 and 5th April 15 ( Poor conditions as always in East London )

Camera: QSI 690 CCD

Optics: Altair Astro RC 250TT

Ioptron CEM60 Mount

Image Aquisition software Maxim DL6

Calibrated and Stacked in CCD Stack

Post Processed with Photoshop CS6

http://flic.kr/p/rYpwSg

Sent from my iPhone

[kirkster501]

Very good Jaspal.  I'm loving the HII regions you got in there mate.

[jaspalchadha]

Thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk