| Revision as of 21:19, 11 September 2004 editJoseph Dwayne (talk | contribs)6,538 edits they are both awesome pictures so lets include both of em!← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:48, 11 September 2004 edit undoArdonik (talk | contribs)3,490 edits Organize the elements a bit, cut down size of "image courtesy of" noticeNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| ⚫ | ] 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. From , used with permission.]] | ||
| <div style="margin-left: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em; float: right"> | |||
| ⚫ | from ]] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| </div> | |||
| The '''Whirlpool Galaxy''' (also known as '''Spiral Galaxy M51''', '''Messier Object 51''', '''Messier 51''', '''M51''', or '''NGC 5194''') is a classic ] located in the ]. It was discovered by ] on ], ]. | The '''Whirlpool Galaxy''' (also known as '''Spiral Galaxy M51''', '''Messier Object 51''', '''Messier 51''', '''M51''', or '''NGC 5194''') is a classic ] located in the ]. It was discovered by ] on ], ]. | ||
| ==General information== | ==General information== | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| The Whirpool Galaxy is one of the brightest, most compelling ] in the sky, visible with ]. The spiral galactic structure was first observed in this galaxy, which is the dominant member of the ]. | The Whirpool Galaxy is one of the brightest, most compelling ] in the sky, visible with ]. The spiral galactic structure was first observed in this galaxy, which is the dominant member of the ]. | ||
Revision as of 22:48, 11 September 2004
The Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as Spiral Galaxy M51, Messier Object 51, Messier 51, M51, or NGC 5194) is a classic spiral galaxy located in the Canes Venatici constellation. It was discovered by Charles Messier on October 13, 1773.
General information
The Whirpool Galaxy is one of the brightest, most compelling galaxies in the sky, visible with binoculars. The spiral galactic structure was first observed in this galaxy, which is the dominant member of the M51 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 from Earth — some measurements put the distance at only 15 million.