The Whirlpool Galaxy I took last month compared to one I took from this month. The only real difference is location. The one I took from home is in Bortle 8 or 9 skies here in Allen, Texas. Surrounded by 440 acres of 24×7 illuminated concrete inside a 2 mile radius doesn’t help one tiny bit. Fort Griffin State Historic Site is in Bortle 2 skies.
I’ve done very, very little processing on this but the difference between the two is striking.
M51 from Allen, TX 
M51 from Ft. Griffin near Albany, TX
If you care to look in more detail. Click to open in a new tab.
