The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 appear like a grand staircase sweeping through space. In reality, these arms are long lanes of stars, gas, and dust. Known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51 is a classic example of a grand-design spiral galaxy.
These spectacular arms serve an important purpose: they are star-formation factories, where hydrogen gas is compressed to create clusters of new stars. Some astronomers believe that the notable prominence of the Whirlpool’s arms is due to a close encounter with NGC 5195, the smaller, yellowish galaxy tugging at one of the arms. This interaction triggers new star formation through tidal forces.
Photo details
Hubble’s clear view shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind M51. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.
In Hubble’s captivating image of M51, the red represents infrared light as well as hydrogen within giant star-forming regions. The blue color can be attributed to hot, young stars while the yellow color is from older stars.
What is the Whirpool Galaxy (M51)?
Discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, M51 is located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. It has an apparent magnitude of 8.4 and can be spotted with a small telescope most easily during May. The Whirlpool galaxy’s beautiful face-on view and closeness to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy’s structure and star-forming processes.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Public domain masterpieces
The mission of this series is to promote space and science. The creators want these designs to hang on your wall, which is in line with our mission in Astrography. That is why we decided to use our competence in printing cosmos inspired graphics and photos to provide you with these projects in the highest possible quality on Fine Art (Giclée) pigments and papers.
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