This interacting pair of spiral galaxies in Canes Venatici  is 37 million light years away. The smaller galaxy on the left is NGC 5195. The interaction has disturbed and lit-up both galaxies. The pink knots are H II star formation regions.

• Object: Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) in Canes Venatici
• Exposure: 105m + 60m
• Telescope: Celestron C-8 @ f/10
• Mount: Losmandy GM-8 on tripod
• Guiding: Celestron Radial Guider, SBIG ST-4 (A5)
• Camera: Olympus OM-1
• Film: Kodak E200
• Location: Loudon, NH
• Date: 03-Dec-00 02:40 EST
• Conditions: seeing 6/10, transparency 7/10, LVM 6.0, 15° F
• Processing: Polaroid SprintScan 4000; RegiStar 1.0; Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1; SGBNR 1.0.9.58