Messier 51

Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: ~23 Million light years
Apparent Magnitude: 8.4
Visual Size: 11.2 x 6.9 arcminutes
Other Designations: NGC5194

Interacting with NGC5195. Discoved in 1774 by Charles Messier. Its companion galaxy, NGC5195 was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Mechain. Lord Rosse used a 72 inch newtonian telescope to resolve it as a spiral galaxy in 1845. In 2005, supernova SN2005cs was observed, peaking at an apparent magnitude of 14.

This galaxy is a very popular binocular target, and resolves well in small telescopes.