M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

Spring time in astronomy is galaxy season.  One of my favorite galaxies is the Whirlpool galaxy.  I saw this for the first time at Massacre Rocks.  I found it by using a technique called star hoping.  At the time I had no computer on my telescope so I had to use the stars and star maps to help me find it.  The first time it took me over 30 minutes to find it.  This is actually 2 galaxies that are on a collision course.  You need a dark site in order to see it.  I am not able to see it very well in my backyard unless I use my camera. This galaxy is brighter than the Pinwheel galaxy M101.  In Jan of 2019 there was a supernova in M51.  This is when a blue giant star is dying and has no more fuel for fusion.  All the atoms have combined to form heavy elements such as iron so the star begins to collapse under gravity and explodes with extreme force and speed.  The explosion is so bright that it looks like a new field star appears. All that is left after the explosion is a white dwarf star.  I was able to capture one of these events.  This picture of M51 was taken in March and you can clearly see the supernova as pointed out.  You can compare this photo with other photos take last year or before and can see that the star is missing.