Credit & Copyright: N. Scoville
(Caltech), T. Rector
(U. Alaska, NOAO)
et al., Hubble Heritage Team,
NASA
Explanation:
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.
At only 30 million
light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across,
M51, also known as
NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most
picturesque galaxies on the sky.
The above
image
is a digital combination of a ground-based image from the
0.9-meter telescope at
Kitt Peak National Observatory
and a space-based image from the
Hubble Space Telescope highlighting
sharp features normally too red to be seen.
Anyone with a good pair of
binoculars,
however, can see this
Whirlpool toward the constellation of the Hunting Dogs
(Canes Venatici.
M51 is a
spiral galaxy of type Sc
and is the dominant member of a
whole group of galaxies.
Astronomers speculate that M51's
spiral structure is primarily due to its
gravitational interaction with a
smaller galaxy just off the top of the image.
Ask Me Anything:
APOD Editor to
answer questions on reddit at 11 am EST this Thursday
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Январь Февраль Март Апрель Май Июнь Июль Август Сентябрь Октябрь Ноябрь Декабрь |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Публикации с ключевыми словами:
M 51 - Whirlpool galaxy - галактика Водоворот
Публикации со словами: M 51 - Whirlpool galaxy - галактика Водоворот | |
См. также:
Все публикации на ту же тему >> |
Мнения читателей [13]