M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy

M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy

This image is a screenshot of a galactic collision!

The yellowish blob at the top is a small galaxy, which went on a head-on collision with the magnificent whirlpool galaxy about half a billion years ago.

The gravitational disruption sent waves within the whirlpool galaxy, causing some of the dense clouds to collapse, creating a wake of star birth in the process. The brilliant blue colour on the spiral arms came from hot and young stars, while the yellow colour in the centre came from older stars. The outskirt of the galaxy was peppered with red dots, which are the ionized hydrogen gases in the active star-forming regions.

Chances are these galaxies will continue to orbit each other for many million years, and an elliptical galaxy will be born at the end of this cosmic dance.

(This is my first galaxy image. The data was collected using remote observations over a four-month period, which I processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop)