Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  HD122865  ·  M 101  ·  NGC 5447  ·  NGC 5449  ·  NGC 5450  ·  NGC 5451  ·  NGC 5453  ·  NGC 5455  ·  NGC 5457  ·  NGC 5461  ·  NGC 5462  ·  NGC 5471  ·  Pinwheel galaxy
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m101 HaLRGB, Valerio Avitabile
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Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
m101 HaLRGB, Valerio Avitabile
Powered byPixInsight

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Description

M101, located in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major, is undoubtedly one of the best known and most photographed galaxies in the entire northern hemisphere. It lies more than 20 million light years from us and appears almost perfectly in front of us, revealing the structures of its spiral arms. Discovered in 1781 by the French astronomer Charles Messier, M101 has an extension and an overall mass far greater than our galaxy, the Milky Way. Although considered one of the most classical examples of a spiral galaxy, M101 shows an obvious asymmetry in its structure: astronomers believe it to be the aftermath of a past gravitational interaction with another passing galaxy.

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m101 HaLRGB, Valerio Avitabile