Joe, I had a similar experience when viewing Tyler’s M51 image.  You see that nebulosity or fuzziness at the end of the lower arm of M51 (Opposite NGC 5195)? For the first time it appears to me (just guessing) that M51 is like a radial saw and that fuzziness on the lower arm is a hunk of NGC 5195 (the other galaxy).  If we were able to be around when that other radial arm comes off  that is currently over NGC 5195 my guess is that it will have another hunk of NGC 5195 trailing after it also.  That is a neat example of galactic cannibalism. I wish it wasn’t so dim in a small scope.   I am also guessing here, because I don’t know anything galactic mechanics, that the broken arm extending away from NGC 5195 is the result of M51’s lower arm’s previous swipe.    Looking at the relative size of M51 and NGC 5195 (what’s left of it) I am surprise that M51 itself is not more misshapen. It appears to have held together fairly well.   That is great detail and can get ones imagination going. But to use a Chuckism I only know “Scatalogical Astronomy” ;>)   Jim     --- On Sun, 2/22/09, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Three New Images Posted To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Sunday, February 22, 2009, 4:26 PM Beautiful! I'd never before seen the Whirlpool's outer gases, or dust, or whatever that is. -- Joe --- On Sun, 2/22/09, Tyler Allred <tylerallred@earthlink.net> wrote: From: Tyler Allred <tylerallred@earthlink.net> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Three New Images Posted To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Sunday, February 22, 2009, 12:20 PM Hello SLAS, It is galaxy season, and I just added three new images to my website, including: M106 (shown during my talk last week), M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy), and M63 (the Sunflower Galaxy). Here is a link to the "Latest Images" page of my website, where you will find the new additions. Be sure to click on them a few times to see the full versions. http://www.allred-astro.com/gpage8.html I am headed out of town for a few days, but I will add these to my SLAS gallery when I get home. M51 and M63 were taken with my new Starlight Xpress SXVF-H16 camera, which I think I am really going to enjoy. These two images were collected on Thursday and Friday nights. The new camera has a square sensor shape which gives a different feel to the images. I included brief descriptions of the objects as well. Let me know what you think of this new batch of photons! :-) Cheers, Tyler _____________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com