This image is a new rendition of Messier 51 with new RGB data and combined with luminance and Ha data from 2018. M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, is a grand design spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It’s one of the most famous galaxies in the sky, appearing face-on when viewed from Earth. At magnitude +8.4, it’s relatively bright and visible in binoculars, especially from dark sites. M51 has a much smaller dwarf companion, known as NGC5195, and together they form the finest and most studied example of an interacting galaxy pair in the sky. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the eye, deep images like this one can reveal the faint tidal debris around the smaller galaxy.
Crop of the original FOV scaled @ 200%
Telescope: 16″ f3.75 Dream Scope
Camera: FLI ML16803
Mount: ASA DDM85
Exposure: 11.5 hours (52x300s L + 36x300s Ha + 3x16x300s RGB)
Acquisition: February 2018 (L – Ha) and April 2020 (RGB) – Processing: January 2023
Location: Southern Alps, France
Comparison with professional grade pictures of the tidal streams around M51
Bart Delsaert - Astrophotography 
This is really great image! I’d love to ask how much time did you spent on processing?
Thanks Alexander! I spend on average around 90 minutes on post-processing. It helps kicking off with good quality data 🙂
I would say it’s quite a lot. It’s nice to have a proper amount of patience not to say “it’s ok” when it’s actually not.
Clear Skies!