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