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Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
Explanation:
Follow the handle of
the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl until
you get to the handle's last bright star.
Then, just slide your telescope a little
south and west and
you might find this
stunning pair of interacting galaxies,
the 51st entry
in Charles Messier famous catalog.
Perhaps the
original
spiral nebula, the large galaxy with
well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194.
Its spiral arms and dust lanes
clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (right),
NGC 5195.
The pair are
about 31 million light-years distant and
officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation
Canes
Venatici.
Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the
eye, deep images like
this one can reveal striking colors and the faint
tidal
debris around the smaller galaxy
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M 51 - spiral galaxy - Whirlpool galaxy
Publications with words: M 51 - spiral galaxy - Whirlpool galaxy
See also: