NGC 5195

also known as

Messier 51b

alternate designation

Messier 51b

companion of

Whirlpool Galaxy

description

NGC 5195 (also known as Messier 51b or M51b) is a dwarf galaxy that is interacting with the Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as M51a or NGC 5194).

discovery

NGC 5195 was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 20, 1781.

galaxy of

Hubble Space Telescope

random

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stellarium

https://stellarium-web.org/skysource/AJustifiableReplacementforM51

supernova

The June issue of Sky and Telescope contains a short reference to the discovery of a supernova in N.G.C. 5195, a satellite of the famous Whirlpool galaxy M51. M. L. Humason was observing this satellite for the first time in three years, and on April 6 [of 1945] he noticed a faint star with which he was not previously familiar. The following evening he obtained its spectrum, which confirmed his suspicions that it was a supernova. At the time of discovery it had passed maximum by about 65 days. On April 12 the nova was at magnitude 16 photographic and 14 photovisual ; its estimated maximum brightness was 11:0 photographic. It was fortunate that Humason had M 51 down on his observing programme on April 6, because the star was fading so rapidly that in a few weeks it would probably have been overlooked. A supernova appears in a spiral nebula on an average once in four hundred years, and this makes the coincidence all the more remarkable. In addition, the star would probably have escaped detection if it had not been so close to the central nucleus.

tags

galaxy

Wikidata

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q378209

Wikipedia

NGC 5195 (Wikipedia) NGC 5195 (also known as Messier 51b or M51b) is a dwarf galaxy that is interacting with the Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as M51a or NGC 5194). Both galaxies are located approximately 25 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Together, the two galaxies are one of the most famous interacting galaxy pairs.