The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust. This sharpest-ever image, taken in January 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, illustrates a spiral galaxy’s grand design
| Name: | Whirlpool Galaxy |
|---|---|
| Designation: | M51 |
| Magnitude: | 8.4 |
| Constellation: | Canes Venatici |
| Object Type: | Interacting Spiral |
| Best Viewing: | Spring |
| Distance: | 23 million LY |
| Surface Brightness: | ~22.2 mag/arcmin² |
| Viewing Difficulty: | Moderate |
| Viewable By: | 6-8 in Telescope |
| Zoom Image: | To Zoom |
| ESA Page: | To Page |
| ... Personal Entries: | |
| Observation Date: | |
| Location: | |
| Notes: | |
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Image and caption text Credit: ESA/Hubble
Brightness notes: Integrated magnitude alone is misleading for galaxies. What really matters visually is surface brightness and angular size. So to make it more meaningful, I’ve added a “Surface Brightness value in the table. Surface brightness explains why M74 is hard and M82 pops.
