Photo # 2 (July 2010)
HYDROGEN IN M51
I
have no name
For what
circles
so
perfectly.
A secret
turning in us
Makes the
universe turn.
Head
unaware of feet,
And feet
head. Neither cares.
They keep
turning.
This moment
this love comes to rest in me,
Many beings
in one being.
In one
wheat grain a thousand sheaf stacks.
Inside the
needle's eye a turning night of stars.
- Rumi
Credit & Copyright: CAHA,
Descubre Foundation, DSA, OAUV,
Vicent Peris (OAUV / PixInsight),
Jack Harvey (SSRO),
Steven Mazlin (SSRO), Carlos Sonnenstein (Valkanik),
Juan Conejero (PixInsight).
Perhaps the original spiral nebula, M51
is a large galaxy, over 60,000 light-years across, with a readily apparent spiral structure. M51 is a part of a well-known interacting galaxy pair, its spiral arms and
dust lanes clearly sweeping in front of companion galaxy NGC 5195 (top). This
dramatically processed color composite combines M51 image data from the Calar Alto Observatory's
1.2 meter telescope. The data include long exposures through a narrow hydrogen
alpha filter that trace emission from atomic hydrogen. Reddish hydrogen
emission regions, called HII
regions, are the regions of intense star formation seen to lie mainly along
M51's bright spiral arms. Intriguingly, this composite also shows red hydrogen emission structures
in the faint features extending even beyond NGC 5195, toward the top of the
frame.
Turning our awareness to the stars, we find ourselves transported to the vatness of the outer universe... Resonating with the vast innerverses inside ourselves...
- Dan Benor, MD
