Spiral galaxy M101

Posted by Dr. Bri
on Wednesday, August 13, 2014

This is the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 or NGC 5457 located in the constellation Ursa Major (The Big Dipper)
M101 is slightly larger than our galaxy with a size of about 170 thousand light years across. It is about 25 million light years away from us. It shines at about magnitude 9.0 and is visible with a good telescope. However to observe the detailed arm structures seen in my image, one requires a very large telescope. I was using a 17 inch Truss scope for this image.
As you can see by the image, M101 is an asymmetrical galaxy. Its spiral arms being forcefully bothered by adjacent neighbouring satellite galaxies.

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