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Credit & Copyright: Michael Sleeman
Explanation:
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.
At only 30 million
light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across,
M51, also known as
NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most
picturesque galaxies on the sky.
The featured deep image
is a digital combination of images taken in different colors
over 58 hours with a
telescope from
Lijiang,
China.
Anyone with a good pair of
binoculars,
however, can see this
Whirlpool toward the constellation
of the Hunting Dogs
(Canes Venatici).
M51 is a
spiral galaxy of type Sc
and is the dominant member of a
whole group of galaxies.
Astronomers
speculate that M51's
spiral structure is primarily due to its
gravitational interaction with the
smaller galaxy just above it.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also: