Happy Friday

NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA)

M51, the Whirlpool galaxy and its companion.  Many galaxies have many arms, this grand design galaxy is noteworthy for containing only two curved arms.  Under dark skies you can see M51 with binoculars, it's located just underneath the last star on the handle of the big dipper.  The Whirlpool galaxy is between 25 and 37 million light years away. 

Wallpapers

1024x768

281.1 KB

1280x1024

494.0 KB 

 

M51 Hubble Page