4/11/04 M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

M51, and it's ill fated companion NGC5195 make one of the most beautiful scenes in the Northern sky. This was first galaxy that I ever imaged, and this makes the third time I've done it in the last 3 years. The strong spiral structure of M51 is obvious even at the eyepiece of my 10" scope. I took this shot on a cool spring night, a little breezy but dry and very clear. The individual frames were 3 minutes long with the scope being guided by the ST8 and ETX90 piggybacked on the LX200.