Pinwheel Galaxy
A face-on spiral galaxy in Ursa Major, Messier 101.
via Wikipedia: Pinwheel Galaxy · see source
The Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101, NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy about 21 million light-years away in Ursa Major. Pierre Méchain discovered it in 1781 and Charles Messier added it to his catalogue as one of the last entries.
In 2006 NASA and ESA released a Hubble image of it made from 51 exposures, at the time the largest and most detailed Hubble image of a galaxy.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Intermediate spiral galaxy
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Distance
- ~21 million light-years
- Discovered
- 1781 (Pierre Méchain)
More in Galactic Structures & Nebulae
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