Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4263  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool galaxy
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M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici, Phil Swift
M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici
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M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici

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M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici, Phil Swift
M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici
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M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici

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Description

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51, 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. Its distance is estimated to be 23 million light-years away from Earth.

The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195, are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may be seen with binoculars.

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M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy - Canes Venetici, Phil Swift