You found the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)!
This is M51, the famous Whirlpool galaxy. It was first identified by Messier in 1773 when he was observing a comet. This galaxy is about 37 million light years away and is easily observable with telescopes starting from 4-inches although it is quite sensitive to light pollution. This was also the first galaxy whose spiral structure was documented. This was done in the form of a painting by Lord Rosse in 1845. Recently the Hubble Space Telescope was used to probe the nucleus of the galaxy. In 1994 a supernova (SN1994I) was discovered by amateur astronomers Jerry Armstrong and Tim Puckett.