Messier 51a, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, were imaged from Halifax over 3 nights (March 22, 23 and 30) while significant moonlight was present. These interacting galaxies are located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici.

Orion ED80T-CF refractor/ASI183MC CMOS camera with Optolong CLS and L-eNhance filters/SkyWatcher EQ6R mount

50 3-minute subs obtained with the CLS filter (plus calibration frames) and 16 10-minute subs obtained with the L-eNhance filter (plus calibration frames) were stacked separately and processed using Photoshop, then blended together in Photoshop and tweaked with MS Photo.