Spiral Galaxy

New images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are helping researchers view in unprecedented detail the spiral arms and dust clouds of a nearby galaxy, which are the birth sites of massive and luminous stars.

The Whirlpool galaxy, M51, has been one of the most photogenic galaxies in amateur and professional astronomy. Easily photographed and viewed by smaller telescopes, this celestial beauty is studied extensively in a range of wavelengths by large ground- and space-based observatories. This Hubble composite image shows visible starlight as well as light from the emission of glowing hydrogen, which is associated with the most luminous young stars in the spiral arms.
 
 

M51, also known as NGC 5194, is having a close encounter with a nearby companion galaxy, NGC 5195, just off the upper edge of this image.

The companion's gravitational pull is triggering star formation in the main galaxy, as seen in brilliant detail by numerous, luminous clusters of young and energetic stars.

The bright clusters are highlighted in red by their associated emission from glowing hydrogen gas.

Intricate structure is also seen for the first time in the dust clouds. Along the spiral arms, dust "spurs" are seen branching out almost perpendicular to the main spiral arms.
 

The regularity and large number of these features suggests to astronomers that previous models of "two-arm" spiral galaxies may need to be revisited. The new images also reveal a dust disk in the nucleus, which may provide fuel for a nuclear black hole.

Fast Facts for the Whirlpool Galaxy M51

Name: Whirlpool Galaxy • M51 • NGC 5194

Object Description: Face-on Spiral Galaxy with Companion

Constellation: Canes Venatici

Distance: About 31 million light-years

Dimensions: The image is roughly 30,000 light-years in the vertical dimension.

Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: C. Conselice (U. Wisconsin/STScI)

More info: hubble site

 

 

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