Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool galaxy
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy, Richard Pattie
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy, Richard Pattie
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

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Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. M51 is approximately 23 million light-years distant, with a diameter of 86,000 light-years.

The very pronounced spiral structure of the Whirlpool Galaxy is believed to be the result of the close interaction between it and its companion galaxy NGC 5195; specifically, NGC5195's passing through the main disk of M51 about 500 to 600 million years ago. In this model, NGC 5195 came from behind M51 through the disk towards the observer, then made another disk crossing as recently as 50 to 100 million years ago until it is where we observe it to be now, which is slightly behind M51. [Source: adapted from Wikipedia]

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M51 Whirlpool Galaxy, Richard Pattie