Current Info for Observer
as of 04/26/2024 5:50 a.m.
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General Info
| Type | Spiral Galaxy |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Right ascension | 13h29'52.100'' |
| Declination | +47°12'43'' |
| Magnitude | 8.400 |
| Distance | 37,000,000ly |
| Size | 11 arc min |
| Catalog Designations | NGC5194, M51 |
| Discovered | 1773 Charles Messier |
Generate a finder chart
The following form will generate a PDF finder chart suitable for printing using to locate objects in the sky with your telescope!
The Date is only really useful for solar system objects, as deep space objects move measurably only on a galactic timescale.
The larger the F.O.V (field of view), the more "zoomed out" the object will appear. It can be helpful to print several charts of the same object with different field of views.
Limiting the magnitude (remember, lower magnitude means brighter!) of stars and objects can make sure your chart is not cluttered with dim objects that you may not be visible to you anyway. The defaults are good, but try experimenting with raising and lowering the values.
Tyler (4830)
10" Dobsonian
10 points
HamilTiller (5560)
Celestron 127eq
10 points
My first galaxy! After having zero luck finding my other galactic goals of the night, decided to give M51 a try. When I finally located it, I had to make sure it wasn't my imagination. It was definitely there--a very faint double smudge. Amazing!
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