Captured using the Stamford observatory's 22-inch telescope in photographic mode.

Discovered 1773 by Charles Messier.

The famous Whirlpool galaxy M51 was one of Charles Messier's original discoveries: He discovered it on October 13, 1773, when observing a comet, and described it as a "very faint nebula, without stars" which is difficult to see. Its companion, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by his friend, Pierre Méchain, so that it is mentioned in Messier's 1784 catalog: `It is double, each has a bright center, which are separated 4'35". The two "atmospheres" touch each other, the one is even fainter than the other.' NGC 5195 was assigned an own number by William Herschel: H I.186.

The Hubble Space Telescope has investigated especially the central region of M51. Its compact nucleus is now classified as of Seyfert type 2.5. Newer HST investigations (published 2001) focus on investigation of the inner spiral arms and dust clouds, which are the birth sites of massive and luminous stars. ESA's ISO (Infrared Space Observatory) satellite has investigated the Whirlpool Galaxy in the infrared light.

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Right Ascension	13 : 29.9 (h:m)
Declination	+47 : 12 (deg:m)
Distance	37000 (kly)
Visual Brightness	8.4 (mag)
Apparent Dimension	11x7 (arc min)