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      Wallpaper author:
      Judith Prana

      27 May 2026

      M51, aka Whirlpool galaxy (LRGB)

      The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is a classic "grand-design" spiral galaxy located approximately 23 to 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Famous for its striking, face-on orientation, it is renowned for its well-defined spiral arms and its ongoing gravitational interaction with a smaller companion galaxy, NGC 5195. Over 13 hrs of good LRGB data from Telescope Live remote observatory in Almeria Spain. Pre and Post processed in Pixinsight w/ final touch-ups in Paintshop Pro Ultimate.

      Dataset from which the image was processed

      M51

      9 credit

      Open
      Telescope Live
      SPA-2-CMOS

      M51, aka Whirlpool galaxy (LRGB)