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 5473  ·  NGC 5477  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy, Astrochromata
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M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy

M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy, Astrochromata
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M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy

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Description

M101 is a spiral galaxy which we are facing right from above.

It is a rather remarkable galaxy, mainly due to its apparent size, but surely also because of its beaten-up looks.

M101 is rather close (well, in galaxy terms) to us, with a distance of 21 million lightyears from us.

It is also pretty large: the diameter clocks in at 170.000 light years, a little short of twice the diameter of our milky way.

The assymetricity is thought to be caused due to the tidal forces of surrounding galaxies, giving it its beaten-up looks.

It also shows a lot of Ha regions (the reddish blobs), which are star-forming regions.

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M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy, Astrochromata