Whirlpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy (NGC 5194, M51a) is located about 32 million light-years from Willingboro, It’s width is approximately 109 thousand light-years. Its companion galaxy is NGC 5195 (M51b).

The Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered on in 1773, by Charles Messier while hunting for objects that could confuse comet hunters. Its companion galaxy. NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Mechain, although it was not known whether it was interacting or merely another galaxy passing at a distance. In 1845, William Parsons, employing a 72-inch reflecting telescope, found that the Whirlpool possessed a spiral structure, the first "nebula" to be known to have one. These “spiral nebulae” were not recognized as galaxies until Edwin Hubble was able to observe Cepheid variables in some of these spiral nebulae. This provided evidence that they were so far away that they must be entirely separate galaxies.

And, as you can see by the existence of the northeast plume and the south plume there is tidal interaction between the two galaxies. It is thought that NGC 5195 may have passed through the center of NGC 5194 around 600 million years ago. The thinking is that NGC 5195 came from behind 5194 (relative to how we see it) and then passed through it again 50 to 100 million years ago, forming the plumes.