Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  IC 4277  ·  IC 4278  ·  M 51  ·  NGC 5194  ·  NGC 5195  ·  Whirlpool Galaxy
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The Whirlpool galaxy, Prabhakaran
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The Whirlpool galaxy

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The Whirlpool galaxy, Prabhakaran
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The Whirlpool galaxy

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The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with an 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 31 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195(M51b) are easily observed by amateur astronomers through a modern amateur telescope. The Whirlpool's beautiful face-on view and proximity to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy's structure and star-forming processes.

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The Whirlpool galaxy, Prabhakaran