Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  NGC 5477  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Brad
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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Brad
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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy

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Description

Messier 101 was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781, and Charles Messier added it as one of the last entries to his catalog later that year. Méchain described M 101 as a "nebula without star, very obscure and pretty large, 6' to 7' in diameter, between the left hand of Bootes and the tail of the great Bear."

William Herschel noted in 1784 that "[M101] in my 7, 10, and 20-feet reflectors shewed a mottled kind of nebulosity, which I shall call resolvable; so that I expect my present telescope will, perhaps, render the stars visible of which I suppose them to be composed."

M 101 was one of the first "spiral nebulae" identified by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse. Lord Rosse observed M 101 in his 72-inch Newtonian reflector in 1851, and made several sketches; he was the first to note its spiral structure.

Halton Arp included M 101 as No. 26 in his Catalogue of Peculiar Galaxies, with the description "Spiral with One Heavy Arm."

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M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, Brad