Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4263  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5169  ·  NGC 5173  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  NGC 5198  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
M51, Dasidius
M51
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M51

M51, Dasidius
M51
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M51

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Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.

Radius: 30,000 light years

Age: 400.3 million years

Distance to Earth: 23.16 million light years

Apparent size (V): 11′.2 × 6′.9

Coordinates: RA 13h 29m 53s | Dec +47° 11′ 43″

Stars: 100 billion

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M51, Dasidius