Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4263  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5169  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool galaxy
M 51, Sugar
M 51
Powered byPixInsight

M 51

M 51, Sugar
M 51
Powered byPixInsight

M 51

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Die Whirlpool-Galaxie (auch als Strudelgalaxie, Messier 51 oder NGC 5194/5195 bezeichnet) ist eine große Spiralgalaxie im Sternbild Jagdhunde. Sie ist vom Hubble-Typ Sc, das heißt mit deutlich ausgeprägter Spiralstruktur. M51 hat eine scheinbare Helligkeit von 8,4 mag und eine Winkelausdehnung von 11,2' × 6,9'. Die Entfernung von unserem Sonnensystem beträgt wahrscheinlich etwa 28 Millionen Lichtjahre, doch gibt es auch abweichende Ergebnisse zwischen 15 und 37 Millionen Lichtjahren.

The Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194) is an interacting[7] grand-design[8] spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus[9] in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.[10] Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way,[3] but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million ly. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky.[11] The galaxy and its companion (NGC 5195) are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars.[12] The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

Comments

Revisions

  • M 51, Sugar
    Original
  • Final
    M 51, Sugar
    B

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M 51, Sugar