#messier 101

[quiltofstars]

The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, center) and NGC 5474 (lower left) // Douglas Rollain

[blondebrainpowered]

Messier 101, one of the largest known spiral galaxies. It is 170,000 light-years across, and is home to 1 trillion stars. For reference, the Milky Way is 100,000 light-years across, with roughly 200 billion stars. (ESA/Hubble)

[alascene]

it’s galaxy season babey

Messier 101 (Pinwheel galaxy), the Leo Triplet, and Messier 51 (Whirlpool galaxy) in order, shot at 135mm

[chibinotan]

Wide-Field Pinwheel

[therealuniverse]

THE PINWHEEL GALAXY This spiral galaxy is 170, 000 light years across (nearly twice the diameter of the Milky Way) and is also known as Messier 101 (M101). About 100 billion of the stars in that giant spiral could be like our Sun in terms of temperature and lifetime. The galaxy lies in the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear), and is 25 million years distant from Earth. It was first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781.

This image is composed of 51 individual Hubble exposures, as well as elements from images from ground-based photos. The final composite image measures 16,000 by 12,000 pixels. -TEL https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2006/10/1865-Image.html Credit for Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI Credit for CFHT Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/ J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum Credit for NOAO Image: G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, M. Hanna/ NOAO/AURA/NSF

[stuffmikeclicked]

The spirals are almost too faint to see when observing visually.

[spinningblueball]

Messier 101 (M101) [NGC 5457] also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy In Ursa Major

Taken by the WIYN Telescope

[cosmicvastness]

A View Toward M101 

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. M101 shares this modern telescopic field of view with spiky foreground stars within the Milky Way, and more distant background galaxies. The colors of the Milky Way stars can also be found in the starlight from the large island universe. Its core is dominated by light from cool yellowish stars. Along its grand spiral arms are the blue colors of hotter, young stars mixed with obscuring dust lanes and pinkish star forming regions. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away.

Credit: Laszlo Bagi