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M51
M51 — Whirlpool Galaxy
Galaxy
· Canes VenaticiIntermediate
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Observing: Tonight · 8:00 PM–5:00 AM
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Target information
- Object type
- Galaxy
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Right ascension
- 13h 29m 53s
- Declination
- +47° 11′ 43″
- Magnitude
- 8.4
- Angular size
- 11.2′ × 6.9′
- Surface brightness
- 12.6 mag/arcmin²
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Best months
- Mar-Jun
- Catalog IDs
- M51;NGC 5194;M51a
About this target
Interacting face-on spiral with companion NGC 5195; classic long-focal-length target.