The Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting grand design spiral galaxy (galaxies whose gravitational fields results in a disturbance of on another) in the constellation Canes Venatici. You can see the gravitational forces of the M 51 affecting NG5195 also known as M 51b. M 51 is approximately 32 million light years from earth. Captured in this image you can see other distant galaxies that appear as oblong stars or smudges. I have included a cropped image as well. These images were taken from my back yard.

Equipment used:

Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 FCD100 Triplet Carbon Fiber Refractor telescope

Svbony 60mm guide scope and ZWO ASI120MM-S camera

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro dedicated astrophotography camera

ZWO Electronic Automatic Focuser

ZWO ASIAIR Plus computer

Optolong IR/UV Cut filter

ZWO AM 5 mount

Imaging data:

Lights:  271 x 5-minute exposures

Darks:  24 x 5 minutes exposures

Flats and Dark Flats:  100 exposures

Processing software:

Pixinsight