Messier 101 (also known as NGC 5457) is a stunning face-on spiral galaxy about 22 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. Hubble's visible-light view shows off luminous swirling spirals of bright stars and glowing gas that give M101 a classic spiral look. It is no wonder it has been dubbed the "Pinwheel Galaxy." This galaxy is similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, except M101 is nearly twice the size. The section of M101 shown here is 22,500 light-years across, while the entire galaxy is on the order of 114,000 light-years across. In this unique black and white Hubble Space Telescope image, bright knots of glowing gas highlight regions of active star formation. These star forming regions are concentrated in M101's spiral arms along with brilliant clusters of hot, newborn stars. The softer, less-bright areas near the core and between the arms consist mainly of old stars. The dark dust lanes, also visible in the image, are colder and denser regions where interstellar clouds may collapse to form new stars. This image was made using Hubble archival data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2002-2004. The image is a combination of two types of data: images taken with broad band blue, visible, and infrared filters show the stars while the glowing hydrogen gas is revealed in a narrow band filter designed especially for that purpose. The combination of different types of observations taken at multiple wavelengths is essential to the complete understanding of any celestial object.
Credits
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: R. Chandar (University of Toledo) and K. Kuntz (JHU/GSFC)| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | M101, NGC 4547, The Pinwheel Galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 14h 3m 13.0s |
| Dec. Position | 54° 20' 52.99" |
| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
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| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
