M-51 and SN2005cs, July 3, 2005 from near Pasco, Washington

In 1998, I started a program to observe and draw all 327 Arp galaxies. While this list is famous for mostly including faint galaxies, there are some well known, very bright objects. One such example is M-51 in the constellation Canes Venatici.

I had slowly worked my way through the list, deciding to save M-51 for a night, when something fun was happening or I was observing with a telescope other then my 20-inch.

On July 3rd, 2005, that happened. While observing from the Mansperger farm near Pasco, Washington, I pointed my 12-inch f/5.4 suite case telescope "Ellie" towards M-51 and captured this rendering of the Whirlpool galaxies along with a visitor: Supernova SN2005cs.

SN2005cs was discoverd by Wolfgang Kloehr, Schweinfurt, Germany, on June 28, 2005 in a series of CCD images. Chance would have it that Wolfgang caught the SN on the rise, as it was still brightening. By July 3rd, when I pointed Ellie, it was easy to see in the 12-inch scope at 120x. Here the SN is marked by the four "cross" pencil lines.

I also like this drawing because it represents, for me, a common view of M-51. Early, pre-Lord Rosse, drawings of M-51 often show the larger half of M-51 has having a "ring" around the nucleus of the larger galaxy. Ever since Rosse disclosed the true spiral shape, it's been easy for visual observers to read into their minds the spiral. But I think it often looks like a ring.

For the full story, see:
http://ladyandtramp.com/ellie/m-51-sn2005cs.jpg