Messier 51--also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy--is a striking object. It's long, spiral arms of gas and dust are its most prominent feature, likely enhanced by the galaxy's interaction with NGC 5195 (the small 'blob' that seems to be pulling on a spiral arm). The RASA is not an ideal scope for this object; M51 appears very small in the imaged field using the Mallincam DS10C camera. Fortunately, the 10 MP sensor supports moderate cropping without too much detail loss and blockiness. There are also a number of other galaxies and other objects in the original, uncropped image. I have included astrometry data for these objects. Please click images for larger versions.
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