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Revision as of 08:33, 28 July 2004
The Whirlpool Galaxy, Messier Object 51 (M51), also known as NGC 5194, is a classic spiral galaxy, discovered by Charles Messier on October 13, 1773. It is one of the brightest, most compelling galaxies in the sky, visible with binoculars in the constellation Canes Venatici. The spiral galactic structure was first observed in this galaxy, which is the dominant member of a group of galaxies.
Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain. Sometimes M51 is used to refer to the pair of galaxies, in which case the individual galaxies may be referred to as M51A (5194) and M51B (5195). The galaxy is less than 37 million light years away -- some measurements put the distance at only 15 million.
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